Arsenal's senior players are to begin reporting back for pre-season training at the beginning of July, with a quadruple boost already in store for Mikel Arteta.
As reported by football.london earlier in the month, Gabriel Martinelli, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Mohamed Elneny and Takehiro Tomiyasu are all set to be involved in the club's preparations for the new campaign as the Spaniard looks to repeat last year's formula that laid the foundations for an unexpected Premier League title charge.
The group were all unavailable for selection toward the end of the 2022/23 season due to injury. Zinchenko had a minor calf issue, Martinelli suffered an ankle problem after being on the receiving end of a poor tackle from Moises Caicedo in May's 3-0 defeat to Brighton, while Elneny has been a long-term absentee having undergone knee surgery in January.
There were some worrying quotes from Arteta with regard to Tomiyasu a couple of months ago, but the Japan international was in the gym during the final few weeks of the season as he progressed in his recovery from knee surgery and he, along with the aforementioned trio, are expected to play a part in pre-season.
And the good news may not stop there for Arsenal. After confirmation that Fabio Vieira should be ready to return to full training within the next two weeks after pulling out of the Portugal squad for this summer's UEFA U21 European Championships, footage has emerged of William Saliba getting ready for his return.
The Frenchman hasn't played a competitive match since limping off against Sporting CP on March 16 as a back injury ultimately ruled him out of the Gunners' final 11 games. Although, as seen in the footage below, as per the account @asxd_98 on Twitter, he looks to be progressing well having taken part in a light training session.
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Now, football.london understands that Saliba has verbally agreed on a new four-year contract at the Emirates Stadium. Once that deal is officially signed, there will perhaps be no better sight than seeing him strut out for the first pre-season fixture against FC Nurnberg on July 13.
With that said, Arteta has already revealed what steps have been taken to ensure the defender takes part in pre-season: "It's probably too early to say. He's been evolving in the right way," the Spaniard said last month when asked if there were any concerns for the defender being ready.
"The last few weeks have been much more positive than the previous two months. We wanted to protect him. It was an injury that needed some caring and attention, and we've been pretty conservative to give him a chance to have a good pre-season to have a chance to go again next season."
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