Arsenal have announced that they will face FC Girona in their first pre-season friendly of the summer
Arsenal will play FC Girona on August 1 to kick-off their pre-season tour. The Gunners will travel to Spain where their plans to defend the Premier League title begin.
Players are expected to return to the Sobha Realty Training Centre in early July after being given several weeks off, as per Premier League guidelines, which state players should be given at least three weeks off. For those involved in international summer tournaments, this naturally delays their return.
But for the likes of Riccardo Calafiori, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Cristhian Mosquera and Kepa Arrizabalaga, among others, they will be some of the first to return. So far, only two pre-season matches have been officially scheduled.
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Arsenal will play Real Betis in Dublin on August 5. As Premier League champions they will face FA Cup winners Manchester City in the FA Community Shield on August 16 in Cardiff.
football.london exclusively broke the story that Arsenal are in discussions over organising two friendly matches in London with Borussia Dortmund and FC Como. These would be expected to take place after the Dublin trip and before the Community Shield, pointing to the weekend of August 8 and midweek commencing August 10.
football.london further understood that discussions over a potential match in Spain were being considered and now those have come to pass. There were suggestions this could have been a behind-closed-doors affair, but tickets will be available for purchase.
This will feature very few, if any, of those players currently playing in this summer’s World Cup. 15 are currently away in North America, with the vast majority expected to progress to the knockout stages and into the latter parts of the competition.
Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and William Saliba have all also reportedly been suffering with problems being managed across the pond. Mikel Arteta will be keen to ensure a healthy status before any inclusion in matches with Arsenal.
