There was late drama at the African Cup of Nations semi-final this evening (Sunday) - and it could be good news for Arsenal.
The Gunners' boss would have been an interested spectator as Nigeria faced Algeria in the semi-final of the tournament this evening (Sunday), with Arsenal star Alexi Iwobi featuring for the Super Eagles.
And he would have been left with mixed feelings after seeing the Super Eagles defeated 2-1 in the dying stages of the game, with Riyad Mahrez netting an injury time winner for Algeria, with Iwobi and Nigeria losing out in cruel fashion.
That means Iwobi will not now be featuring in the final of the tournament on Friday, with Nigeria instead now facing a third/fourth place play-off against Tunisia on Wednesday night.
But the attacking midfielder won't be reporting back for pre-season training any time soon.
Iwobi certainly won't feature in the club's pre-season tour of the United States, but he could still be involved in Arsenal's opening Premier League game of the new campaign against Newcastle United.
football.london understands that Arsenal intend to give all of their players who have been on international duty this summer three weeks off.
And Iwobi will get three weeks off as well, meaning that he is likely to return to Arsenal in the week leading up to the Premier League opener away to Newcastle on August 11.
With six goals and nine assists to his name across all competitions last season, there's hope that the attacking midfielder can build on that in the upcoming campaign.
Iwobi was a regular during Emery's first season at the club, often competing with Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey for one of the attacking slots behind Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Most of Iwobi's club teammates have already been back at London Colney for pre-season training and are now in the United States of America as part of the club's pre-season tour.
Emery's squad will play games in Denver, Charlotte and Washington during their tour of America, playing against Bayern Munich, Fiorentina and Real Madrid as part of the International Champions Cup.
