Arsenal set for unique summer pre-season tour as USA and Asia decision emerges

Arsenal are not expected to be travelling to the United States or Asia this summer for pre-season as unique World Cup has shaken up the football calendar

Arsenal are understood to be planning for a pre-season much closer to home this summer. The World Cup, being held in North America, will finish on July 19, meaning there will be just a 33-day gap between the tournament’s end and the Premier League kick-off on August 22.

This is the latest the Premier League has ever begun, and allows for the mandatory four weeks that players must be given off; however, it will have a significant impact on players involved in the summer tournament.

Arsenal are expected to see the vast majority of their group join their respective nations for the tournament, and so a pre-season which normally would see the squad fly off to America, Asia or in some cases Australia would be a serious commitment without a large bulk of the main senior squad.

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As a result, the club, football.london understands has been looking into pre-season plans much closer to home than usual. With matches in Europe being considered, Dublin is indeed thought to be a venue under discussion, but not agreed as of yet, while many summers have seen the Emirates Stadium host one or two games before the season kicks off.

The Gunners have played pre-season matches in Europe several times before. In 2013, Arsenal beat Manchester City 3-1 in Helsinki, Finland, while after Euro 2016 in France, Arsenal again played City but in Gothenburg, Sweden and won 3-2.

These games usually welcome back both those who had been involved in summer tournaments, but also any new signings from the transfer window, which had been agreed later. Viktor Gyokeres, for example, made his first unofficial starts of last summer in games against Villarreal and Athletic Club in North London.

Gyokeres’ Sweden team now need to win in the play-offs, first taking on Ukraine next month, before facing the winner of Poland and Albania. Otherwise, Gyokeres will join other teammates whose nations did not qualify or those who were not called up.

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