Mikel Arteta welcomes new signing as Arsenal youngster given chance to shine

Mikel Arteta has been putting his players through their paces ahead of this weekend's match. Arsenal will lock horns with Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon as they look to get back to winning ways.

Just before the international break, the Gunners lost 1-0 to Liverpool at Anfield. Arsenal had won each of their first two games of the Premier League season, picking up wins against Manchester United and Leeds United.

Meanwhile, West Ham put three past the East Midlands outfit at the City Ground. After a shaky start to the campaign, Evangelos Marinakis sacked Nuno Espirito Santo and brought in Ange Postecoglou.

The Forest owner will be hoping for a 'new manager bounce', but the north Londoners have won three of their last four games against the former Tottenham Hotspur boss. So, with that being said, football.london has spotted five things that you might have missed from training at the Sobha Realty Centre.

Hincapie welcomed to the squad

Piero Hincapie, who Arsenal signed from Bayer Leverkusen on loan on deadline day, will be hoping to make his debut against Forest this weekend. The 23-year-old defender was given a warm welcome by his new teammates, running down a tunnel of slaps.

Once the squad dispersed in preparation for the first drill of the session, Hincapie was in conversation with Nicolas Jover. The set-piece coach has transformed the Gunners into one of the most feared and effective dead-ball teams in the Premier League.

Shortly after joining Arsenal, Hincapie reported for international duty. The Ecuador international helped his country qualify for the World Cup; they were held to a goalless draw by Paraguay before enjoying a 1-0 win over Argentina.

Four Arsenal players miss out

William Saliba, Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz were absent from training. Saliba was forced to come off due to an ankle injury in the opening minutes of Arsenal's 1-0 defeat to Liverpool just before the international break.

Saka has been nursing a hamstring problem, which he suffered in the Gunners' 5-0 win over Leeds, while Havertz required minor surgery on a knee after he complained of discomfort last month. Gabriel Jesus remains out of action after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury at the start of the year.

Merino congratulated after Spain hat-trick

Mikel Merino followed Hincapie down the tunnel of slaps as the squad congratulated him on his hat-trick for Spain over the international break. The Arsenal midfielder stole the show as he fired Luis de la Fuente's side to a 6-0 victory against Turkey on Sunday evening.

White and Norgaard feature

Ben White and Christian Norgaard featured in training. White was forced to come off early during the Gunners' 1-0 win over Manchester United on the opening weekend of the new season, and he missed the following games against Leeds and Liverpool.

As for Norgaard, he's yet to even feature in a matchday squad for Arsenal this term. The 31-year-old midfielder, who joined Arsenal from Brentford in the summer, made a handful of promising appearances during pre-season, though.

Arsenal youngster given chance to shine

Jeorge Bird spotted Ife Ibrahim with the first team on Thursday morning. The 17-year-old, who has recently broken into the under-21s, joined Max Dowman as they look to establish themselves as stalwarts in the squad.

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