Arsenal will return to pre-season training today with a host of top youngsters eager to prove their worth to Mikel Arteta.
Mikel Arteta's side only ended their 2019/20 campaign three weeks ago with a 2-1 victory over Chelsea in the FA Cup Final but are back at London Colney today seven days before they meet Liverpool in the Community Shield.
With the Premier League season starting two weeks later Arsenal will look to arrange behind closed doors friendlies to give Arteta's squad further sharpness though finding the right dates for those is complicated by the round of UEFA Nations League qualifiers due to take place between September 3 and 8.
Some of Arteta's squad returned to Colney over recent days for fitness tests and recovery work but those who played a part in the FA Cup Final have been given the three weeks' vacation that Premier League clubs have agreed should be the minimum break for players between seasons.
Among those with the most riding on pre-season training will be Emile Smith Rowe, bidding to prove to Arteta and Arsenal that he can be the club's long-term option in the number 10 position.
Arteta is a firm admirer of Smith Rowe and Arsenal have communicated to the 20-year-old that he is in their plans for the start of next season and will be given opportunities to prove his worth before the new season begins.
One scenario that might prompt the youngster to seek a loan move before the transfer window closes is if the Gunners were to add another creative option such as Philippe Coutinho or Houssem Aouar to vie with Willian for minutes in the role.
Arteta will be looking for signs that his players remain as hungry as ever after their FA Cup Final win and eighth-place finish, which he insisted before the season was out could not be enough for a club of Arsenal's stature.
"I have to look at the players, how they come from holidays, how they come after winning, I want to see that reaction," he said.
"You know, are they going to be a little more relaxed because we've done something or are they going to come with 'Okay, this is nothing that we've done. We have to go to the next level, we have to apply ourselves better, we have to improve in a lot of areas and we have to dominate many other aspects of the game that at the moment we cannot control'.
"If that is the mindset, then I am very positive that we will be sitting here in a year's time really happy. But I hope we take that road straight away."
