The Arsenal squad have arrived in Baltimore for the first leg of their 10-day United States pre-season tour.
Manager Mikel Arteta has named a 33-man travelling party for the trip with summer signings Gabriel Jesus, Fabio Vieira, Marquinhos and Matt Turner all included as is youngster Reuell Walters who made quite the impression during the 5-3 friendly win over FC Nurnberg last week.
With that said, there has been some chatter amongst Arsenal supporters on social media regarding a few rather surprising absentees from the squad such as Charlie Patino, Miguel Azeez, Salah-Eddine, Omari Hutchinson and Marcelo Flores who have been left behind in the UK.
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Meanwhile, there has also been some speculation about which transfer targets could join up with the squad over the next 10 days amid links to Benfica defender Alex Grimaldo, Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans - following his major exit hint - and Lyon's Lucas Paqueta.
Interestingly there was a scenario that could have seen Auston Trusty, another Arsenal signing in 2022, added to the squad in the coming days. Back on deadline day in the January transfer window, the defender joined the club from Colorado Rapids in a move that seemingly came out of nowhere.
The 23-year-old was immediately loaned back to the Major League Soccer [MLS] side, and had been due to link up with his parent club as early as this weekend as per the date of his departure: "The Colorado Rapids have reached an agreement with English Premier League side Arsenal FC for the transfer of defender Auston Trusty, the club announced today," a statement reads. "Trusty will remain with the Rapids on loan before departing for Europe on July 17."
July 17 is the morning (UK time) of the Gunners' pre-season friendly against Everton so it would have been convenient for all parties for Trusty to join up with his new teammates on Sunday considering the defender currently resides in America instead of travelling to England and train with the U23's.
However, it would appear that a decision has been made for Trusty to not be added to the Arsenal pre-season squad for their USA tour as they are, in fact, looking to finalise plans to send the defender out on loan for the 2022/23 campaign.
"Trusty, 23, will stay with the Colorado Rapids until at least the end of the Premier League season in May," a statement via the the north London outfit's official website read. "The intention then is to loan him in Europe for the 2022/23 season to further progress his development."
According to reports the European club Trusty will be joining on loan has been disclosed and it's Championship side Birmingham City which means he will be following in the footsteps of Fabrice Muamba, Jermaine Pennant, Johan Djourou and Nicklas Bendtner who all enjoyed loan spells at St Andrew's whilst at Arsenal.
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