Arsenal ready for Bournemouth + Nketiah, Nelson and Calafiori latest
Arsenal kick off their USA tour a little bit later on when they meet Bournemouth in Los Angeles.
It will be interesting to see what sort of lineup Mikel Arteta goes for. I’m guessing it will be similar to the team that started against Leyton Orient last week in the behind closed doors friendly, although Jakub Kiwior, Jorginho, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Leandro Trossard are available this time.
But given those four have only just really started training due to their late arrival following the Euros, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are only given half an hour or so in the second half.
Eddie Nketiah started against Leyton Orient and he goes into tonight’s game with transfer speculation circling all around him, the same goes for Reiss Nelson – with Fabrizio Romano reporting that Leicester City have entered into talks with Arsenal over a deal for the winger.
I imagine Nketiah will start, as I’ve been told that talk of a deal being close with Marseille is currently way off.
Marseille are interested and they may well have agreed terms behind the scenes with Nketiah’s camp, but the two clubs are a long way apart when it comes to any agreement, so I don’t see why he won’t be involved against Bournemouth.
These three games during the tour are obviously about building up to the new Premier League season, but Arteta will want to see a lot from his team over the next 10 days or so.
I’m looking forward to seeing Jurrien Timber, who I’m guessing will start at centre-back against Bournemouth, and also Gabriel Jesus and Thomas Partey.
Both look to be in great condition following the summer and I really think they can have a major impact over the opening weeks of the campaign if they can stay fit and get a proper pre-season under their belts
So many people seem to have forgotten just how good a fit and confident Jesus can be.
If he can get off to a good start this summer then I’m sure he will quickly remind everyone what he is about and what he can bring to this team.
Arteta will be speaking to the press after the game and will no doubt be asked again about the status of the Riccardo Calafori deal.
The hope is that it will all be finalised in time for the defender to link up with the squad before they fly home from the States.
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David Ornstein has now reported that everything is finalised between the clubs, but there is still a medical to be done and all the paperwork needs to be signed.
Hopefully that can get wrapped up quickly now because it would be great to see Calafiori with the squad.
Arteta will certainly be pushing for it because he is always keen to get any new additions involved on the tour, even if they are not ready to feature in any of the games.
It’s a really exciting signing for Arsenal, hopefully one that will lead to at least a couple more before the end of the window.
Right, that’s it from me today. I’ll be back tomorrow with my usual show where I’ll be giving my thoughts on the Bournemouth game and all the big talking points that emerge from it. You can catch that on YouTube or on all the usual podcast platforms.
Enjoy the match.