Arsenal are on the brink of beginning their Premier League campaign against Crystal Palace on Friday night.
Mikel Arteta’s side have undergone a major overhaul in the summer, with five new players joining the ranks - and plenty of others set to leave. The Gunners have enjoyed a successful pre-season, which included thumping wins over Chelsea and Sevilla, and will kick off the new campaign full of optimism.
There is also excitement surrounding the launching of Prime Video’s new series Arsenal: All or Nothing , which is released to the public on Thursday.
Here are the latest Arsenal headlines from Mirror Football .
Xhaka expects big things from Marquinhos
Marquinhos should aim to follow in the footsteps of Gabriel Martinelli at Arsenal this season according to Granit Xhaka.
The 19-year-old winger became the Gunners' first signing of the summer as he joined in a £3million transfer from Sao Paulo in June. He has been training with the senior squad during pre-season, but it is unclear how fast his development will come. Xhaka is confident he can adapt quickly.
"Everyone was saying, 'yeah, he will go to the Under-23s first' and stuff like this, but how Gabi adapted at this level was unbelievable, and I have the same feeling with Marquinhos as well,” he said. “For his age, he is very developed physically, very fast, good left foot. Of course, he needs to adapt to this level first, this country as well, but I see a big future for this guy."
Arteta underwent heart surgery
Mikel Areta has revealed that he needed life-saving heart surgery when he was just two years old.
The 40-year-old manager believes the operation not only saved his life but also has helped shape his career.
"I was born with a big heart issue that they could not resolve until I was two years old because I was too little. They had to open my heart and go through it,” he said. "It was one of the first surgeries that was done in that way in Spain, so we didn't know how it was going to end up.”
Read more from the Arsenal boss here.
Patino’s development plan
Charlie Patino has joined Blackpool on loan this season in the next step on Mikel Arteta’s plan for the midfielder.
Patino made an immediate impact last season, scoring on debut in a 5-1 win over Sunderland in the Carabao Cup in December. The goal led to plenty of excitement from Arsenal fans, but Arteta won’t rush the 18-year-old’s development, which will continue on loan in the Championship this season.
“We have to cook him slowly,” he said in December. “He still has a lot of competition in front of him. He is really young. And he needs to go step by step.”
