The Arsenal squad - at least, what's left of it after a few outgoings - are currently in Dubai for some warm-weather training.
It has not been the greatest of starts to 2022 for the Gunners. Crashing out of the FA Cup at the third round stage to Championship side Nottingham Forest, losing the Carabao Cup semi-final to Liverpool and failing to win either of their Premier League games so far this month.
So in many ways, a pause in the season has come at the perfect time.
With Arsenal still very much in the top-four race, there's still a lot to play for when they return to action on February 10 with a trip to Molineux to face an in-form Wolves side.
And Mikel Arteta is hopeful that getting the squad together in a brand new environment will prove to be the catalyst for a strong end to the campaign.
"The players are really tired," he admitted after last Sunday’s goalless draw at home to Burnley which stretched his side's winless run to five games across all competition.
"We had a really demanding and challenging situation in the last four weeks because some players have been sick, injured, and we're trying to bring them back, trying to expose them onto pitches when they’ve not been ready.
"We’re going to have a training camp all together in a different environment. We’re going to reunite, refocus and have a good go, because there's still a lot to play for."
Having touched down in Dubai on Thursday, Arteta and his coaching staff have been putting the Gunners squad through their paces during a training session at the Nad Al Sheba Training Centre.
As usual, there has been media footage released to get fans in the mood.
Here's what we spotted from the training pictures and video and what it tells us ahead about Arsenal's first session in Dubai.
Absentees
Not every Arsenal first-team player is currently in Dubai. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 's absence is not a surprise as he was never expected to travel and could soon be on his way out of the club amid links to Barcelona as well as Juventus.
Up until Wednesday morning, many would have predicted Calum Chambers to be involved, but of course, he's no longer at the club having sealed a surprise transfer to Aston Villa on Thursday evening.
Other than that, the squad in Dubai is made up of the players that Arteta has relied upon so far this season such as Martin Odegaard, Emile Smith Rowe, Thomas Partey and Benjamin White, as well as those who haven't been sold.
But there are a couple of notable absentees.
One is Gabriel Magalhaes who is away with the Brazil national team for their World Cup qualifiers and will be hopeful of getting his first cap against Paraguay next week.
The other is Takehiro Tomiyasu who has stayed in England to recover from injury.
Cedric injury boost
With one right-back injured and a potential replacement in Chambers sold, the good news is that Cedric Soares is fit again having took part in the first training session in Dubai.
The Portuguese defender missed the Carabao Cup semi-final, second leg against Liverpool and the draw with Burnley through injury which resulted in White filling in at right-back again.
But Cedric should be in contention for a start against Wolves in a couple of weeks, provided he suffers no setback in his recovery.
Wilshere's shirt number
Jack Wilshere has been somewhat of a permanent fixture in Arsenal training sessions since being invited back by Arteta during the autumn to maintain his fitness whilst deciding his next move.
During this period, he has also spent time working with the Gunners' youth set up in order to help him with his coaching badges for a potential career once he retires from professional football.
But there was something different about Wilshere from this latest training session. As seen in the image below, his training gear included the no.12 on it.
Usually, the 30-year-old's training gear features his initials 'JW' so having a squad number was a little unusual.
Whilst Wilshere was training with a shirt number, there's not much to read into it as a permanent return to Arsenal is unlikely.
In fact, football.london understands the midfielder is attracting interest from clubs in Greece and Italy as well as the Championship as he seeks to find a club for the rest of the season.
Arteta's message to Nketiah
The January transfer window closes on Monday and Eddie Nketiah 's future has been a hot topic in the past 24 hours or so.
According to the Telegraph, Arsenal's talks with Newcastle United are progressing well for the former England U21 international with regard to reaching an agreement before the deadline.
In addition, the report stated that it was hoped that Nketiah would travel to the North East this weekend to complete his move.
Considering the 22-year-old is currently with the Gunners, he will have a long journey ahead of him if he's to return to the UK in the coming hours.
However, Newcastle are in Saudi Arabia right now which is approximately a two-hour journey from Dubai, so perhaps he will wrap up a deal without leaving the Middle East.
With that said, he and Arteta were in good spirits as revealed by Arsenal's 'Behind the scenes at the NAS Sport Complex' video uploaded to YouTube.
At around the 3.27-minute mark, Nketiah received an embrace from his manager and a four-word message of: "Eddie, talk to me" after some miscommunication during a rondo session.
Whether this turns out to be the striker's final or penultimate Arsenal training session should soon become clearer.
