Arsenal's second overseas pre-season tour is almost upon us with the players set to depart for the United States later this week ahead of fixtures against Everton, Orlando City and Chelsea.
Now, it remains to be seen who is named in the Gunners' touring party with several first-team stars reporting back for training after international duty, but it's worth taking into consideration that the rules to enter America are extremely strict regarding a player's COVID vaccination status as a statement reads:
"If you are a non-U.S. citizen who is a non-immigrant (not a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent resident, or travelling to the United States on an immigrant visa), you will need to show proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before you travel by air to the United States from a foreign country."
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Of course, players' vaccination status have previously been kept out of the public domain, but it was announced last week that Chelsea pair Ruben Loftus-Cheek and N'Golo Kante have not been included in the club's tour of the United States due to their vaccination statuses.
At Arsenal, it's not been disclosed as to which players are vaccinated and who aren't. Although one player that might fall into the latter category is Granit Xhaka after it was confirmed almost a year ago by the Switzerland national team that he hadn't taken the vaccine after testing positive for coronavirus.
"Granit Xhaka was not vaccinated," said the Swiss FA’s head of communications, Adrian Arnold, who was quoted by Swiss publication Blick. "He’s a player who isn’t vaccinated. We left this up to each player. It’s a personal decision of each player – just like any other person in Switzerland.
"We have issued a recommendation that everyone vaccinates. But he decided for himself personally. And it is also his right not to be vaccinated."
Xhaka's decision at the time caused quite a debate amongst supporters on social media, whilst Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta delivered his verdict on the situation by insisting that whilst getting the vaccine was ‘the right thing to do’, he would not put any pressure on the midfielder to do so.
"We are trying to explain all the reasons why we believe it’s the right thing to do," Arteta said in a pre-match press conference last season. "How much it will protect first of all the club, second of all the teammates and the environment they’re around. The exposure around if they don’t do it.
"At the end it’s a really personal thing. Obviously, they will be limited in certain aspects if they don’t because we don’t want to expose ourselves in certain things. In the end it’s a personal matter, not an obligation and we have to respect that."
Given how strict the rules are for entering America, coupled with the fact that both Loftus-Cheek and Kante haven't travelled with the Chelsea squad indicates that Xhaka is in line to miss Arsenal's pre-season tour if he's not changed his mind about having the vaccine as he would require proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before travelling.
If the 29-year-old is left behind, it could hand Lucas Torreira a chance to impress after it was revealed that the Uruguay international - who has publicly stated his intention to leave the club this summer - has been requested by Arteta to travel to the United States.
"Torreira to Juve? In fact, he would like to stay and play in Italy, but today Arsenal has called him up for the tour they will do in America, so he seems to be part of the program," explained Torreira’s agent, to Sport Italia via JuventusNews24.
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