Sokratis Papastathopoulos made his first appearance for Arsenal since the FA Cup final win over Chelsea as the Under-23's beat Everton 1-0 at Emirates Stadium.
The 32-year-old centre back was not registered in the Premier League or Europa League squads by manager Mikel Arteta, but opted to play in the match in order to increase his sharpness.
Steve Bould's side fielded a back four which cost almost £60million as Calum Chambers, William Saliba, Joel Lopez and Sokratis started in defence, all of whom impressed as they managed to help keep a clean sheet against the Toffees.
A goal from Emile Smith Rowe sealed the win for Arsenal as Folarin Balogun received two yellow cards with less than 30 minutes remaining in the match. His first yellow came for punching the ball away and he was shown a second after diving.
After the game Sokratis took to social media where he announced his happiness at being back on the pitch following several months without playing in a competitive game.
Happy to be back on the pitch @Arsenal pic.twitter.com/RDmzsdA5CX
— Sokratis Papastathopoulos (@SokratisPapa5) November 20, 2020
Sokratis is one of several Arsenal players whose contract expires next summer and football.london understands that he will assess his options in January, with several top European clubs interested in his services.
Meanwhile, Chambers who has not played a senior match since coming off injured against Chelsea 11 months ago, will be hoping to be in contention for the fixtures over the coming months.
French centre back Saliba, a £28million signing from Saint Etienne last summer, has yet to play for the first team and is expected to go out on loan in January after a move back to his former club broke down on transfer deadline day.
