The Arsenal squad were in Angers on Wednesday evening and played out a draw with their French hosts before prevailing on penalties.
The bigger story was perhaps the rumours that were swirling around as the Gunners played a former club of Nicolas Pepe and fans waited with baited breath for the £72m transfer to be announced. They were left waiting.
Elsewhere, a smaller group of Unai Emery's stars remained at home and trained at London Colney on Thursday and that included Alexandre Lacazette who had picked up an injury during the Emirates Cup on Sunday against Lyon.
The forward was forced off the field and was later pictured wearing a protective boot but now appears in line to face Barcelona this weekend.
Following the Lyon clash Unai Emery said: "We are thinking it’s not important. He decided with the doctor and with me, he’s better not to risk.
"He tried to continue playing but I think it was better in this position to not take risk and the doctor said to me he’s going to check tomorrow but we’re thinking it’s not important."
It now appears that Lacazette has recovered from the sprain with images showing him both jogging outside and completing work inside Arsenal's training centre.
Lucas Torreira and Mohamed Elneny also returned to training and will be hopeful of getting some pre-season action after their Copa America and African Cup of Nations exploits respectively. Dani Ceballos was present too after not making the trip to Angers.
The Gunners face Barcelona in the Joan Gamper Trophy at the Camp Nou on Sunday.
Click through the gallery below to see the best images.
