Arsenal's preparations for the 2022/23 campaign are officially underway with some first-team and academy players reporting for pre-season training this week.
For the first time in just over a month, manager Mikel Arteta has been reunited with his players as he looks to lay the groundwork for what he will be hoping turns out to be a successful season, with the Gunners expected to mount another top-four push in the Premier League and go deep in the Europa League.
But all roads currently lead to the opener against Crystal Palace on August 5 as Arteta and his coaching staff have put some Arsenal players through their paces at the club's London Colney training base and there have been images released to get supporters in the mood.
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From the pictures, the senior players involved in the first session were Benjamin White, Folarin Balogun, Eddie Nketiah, Cedric Soares, Rob Holding, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Thomas Partey, Nicolas Pepe. Furthermore, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Hector Bellerin, Reiss Nelson, Pablo Mari were back after loan spells last season.
In terms of the youngsters involved, Charlie Patino - in the no. 69 training top which may hint at a new squad number for the new season after wearing number 87 last term - was present alongside Miguel Azeez, Omari Hutchinson, Zak Swanson, Zach Awe, Marcelo Flores, Salah-Eddine and Lino Sousa.
Interestingly there was no sign of Kieran Tierney, who recently revealed he was on course to be available for the start of pre-season training - although there are still a couple of days left for him to make a return this week after undergoing knee surgery at the beginning of April.
"It's tough working full days in the gym on your own, but you've got to keep on pushing yourself. There's no point feeling sorry for yourself. I don't look for or expect sympathy from anyone," he said. "At the end of the day, I'm lucky to be a footballer — and I never take anything for granted.
"I'm a nightmare for the physios. I'm always on at them to get me back quicker. And I'm a terrible spectator. Not being able to do anything to help the team. I hate it. My target is to be back for the end of June and the start of pre-season at Arsenal. I'm on course for that. My rehab's going well."
Along with Tierney, Bernd Leno doesn't appear to have been involved either. This is somewhat of a surprise given he wasn't called up by Germany earlier in the month. With that said, the goalkeepers may have trained separately as there was no sign of Arthur Okonkwo either.
As expected, Aaron Ramsdale, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Granit Xhaka, Gabriel Martinelli, Nuno Tavares and Emile Smith Rowe weren't present on the first day of pre-season training as they've all been given extra time off following their international commitments.
And as the international transfer window opens on July 1, that would partially explain the absences of Arsenal's three summer signings in Marquinhos, Fabio Vieira and Matt Turner.
Arsenal will travel out to Germany for a pre-season training camp as their first trip abroad with a friendly against FC Nurnberg on July 8 at the Max-Morlock Stadion pencilled in. They then return to London before flying to America for their second international tour of pre-season on July 13, where they will face Everton and Chelsea.
Currently, the Emirates Cup clash against La Liga outfit Sevilla on July 30 is the final warm-up game pencilled in before the Premier League opener against Crystal Palace, but football.london understands the club are hoping to arrange a behind-closed-doors friendly in between those matches.
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