Declan Rice headlines Arsenal squad for USA tour but…

Declan Rice headlines Arsenal squad for USA tour but Nicolas Pepe among notable absentees

Declan Rice has been named in Arsenal’s travelling squad for their pre-season tour of the United States, though Cedric Soares, Nicolas Pepe and Albert Sambi Lokonga are among the most notable players left behind by Mikel Arteta.

The Gunners, who drew 1-1 with FC Nurnberg in Germany on Friday after opening pre-season with a behind-closed-doors clash with Watford, are flying out to the US this afternoon, where they are due to face an MLS All-Star XI coached by Wayne Rooney at Audi Field in Washington DC on Wednesday evening.

Arsenal then move on to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to meet Premier League rivals Manchester United on July 22, before closing their tour against Barcelona at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles four days later and returning home for a midweek Emirates Cup tie with Monaco and Community Shield showdown with Manchester City at Wembley, ahead of their Premier League opener at home to Nottingham Forest.

Arteta has now named his squad for the US trip, headlined as expected by England midfielder Rice, who finally completed his club-record £105million transfer from West Ham and trained at London Colney for the first time on Saturday.

He is joined by fellow new signings Jurrien Timber, who officially signed from Ajax in a £40m deal on Friday, and Kai Havertz, who made his debut against Nurnberg after a £65m switch from Chelsea was completed last month.

The rest of the travelling squad is very familiar, with Arsenal confirming that they expected the likes of Thomas Partey, who has been linked with a summer exit from the Emirates, and Emile Smith Rowe to join their team-mates Stateside next week.

The club added that “the players who are not part of the squad will be working hard on their fitness and/or recovering from injury”.

Among the players not heading across the Atlantic are Cedric, Pepe and Lokonga, all of whom are expected to leave Arsenal before the summer transfer window closes.

However, Belgian midfielder Lokonga, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Crystal Palace, missed the trip to Germany with a muscular injury and is likely to remain short of fitness.

He wrote on Instagram last week: “Due to a small muscular injury, I’ll sadly not be part of the summer camp with the team in Germany. I’m focus[ed] now on my recovery to prepare the season and be ready to help the team at my fullest capacity.”

Reiss Nelson’s surprise absence is presumably due to an unspecified injury, with the winger having only signed a new long-term contract at Arsenal earlier this month.

Rob Holding, who has been linked with a move to Turkish giants Besiktas, is in the squad, while many of Arsenal’s recent injury absentees - including Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Martin Odegaard, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli, Fabio Vieira and Mohamed Elneny - are all travelling.

Goalkeeper Matt Turner is not involved having recently been on Gold Cup duty with the United States, while, like England winner Smith Rowe, Nuno Tavares has been afforded more holiday after spending his early summer at the European Under-21 Championship in Romania and Georgia with Portugal.

Another player linked with an Arsenal exit who has travelled is new USA international Folarin Balogun, while Amario Cozier-Duberry has also been selected by Arteta ahead of fellow youngsters such as the newly re-signed Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly.