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Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

Transfers could be imminent and 'accidental' line-up hint spotted as Arsenal beat Chelsea

That's it for Arsenal's pre-season tour of the USA and a 4-0 win over Chelsea to lift the Florida Cup was the perfect way to sign off.

Having gone into the game at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida on the back of wins over Everton and Orlando City, the Gunners arguably saved their best performance for the very end as goals from Gabriel Jesus, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Albert Sambi Lokonga completed a perfect trip for Mikel Arteta and company.

Whilst the result doesn't matter too much in the grand scheme of things, it was still a special way for Arsenal to end the tour as they continue to build momentum ahead of the new season. So, therefore, football.london have taken a look at three things that might have gone under the radar against Chelsea.

READ MORE: Arsenal 4-0 Chelsea highlights and reaction as Gunners lift Florida Cup trophy

Transfers imminent?

Interestingly, many Arsenal players had not played a single minute of the USA tour prior to the win over Chelsea and this did not change come full-time. Bernd Leno, Alex Runarsson, Lucas Torreira and Folarin Balogun are the players in question but unlike a quartet that will be mentioned below, these decisions could have been taken with transfers in mind.

Prior to arriving in the States, it was reported that Balogun would be heading out on loan, Leno has long been tipped to leave after losing his place to Aaron Ramsdale last season, Runarsson has no future at the club and Torreira appeared to leave the training camp earlier than expected which has further fuelled speculation that he will soon be on his way.

Now it should be pointed out that they were not the only Arsenal players who were included in the tour squad amid speculation regarding their futures. Though, the difference is Hector Bellerin, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Nicolas Pepe, Pablo Mari, Nuno Tavares and Reiss Nelson were all given game time in the US.

Of course, that doesn't confirm they'll be part of Arteta's plans for the new season, but perhaps deals involving Leno, Torreira, Runarsson and Balogun are close to completion and the club didn't want to risk an injury with any which could have ended any chance of them leaving this summer.

Fitness issues

Oleksandr Zinchenko was able to make his Arsenal debut a day after joining from Manchester City, but there were a number of other notable absentees against Chelsea as Kieran Tierney, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Emile Smith Rowe and summer signing Fabio Vieira didn't make the matchday squad.

The good news is that the latter pair have been spotted in training in recent days so the hope will be that they can be present at London Colney when the squad returns to the UK and then feature against Sevilla in the Emirates Cup on Saturday to build up their fitness.

But in the cases of Tierney and Tomiyasu, Arteta has confirmed they are not fit. With 30 minutes of pre-season action between them so far and only one more friendly pencilled in before the Crystal Palace clash, it's unlikely either player will be in contention for the trip to Selhurst Park.

'Accidental' line-up hint

Despite those issues surrounding Arsenal's first-choice full-back pairing, the USA tour has provided comfort to Arteta in that he doesn't have to rush either player back against Palace as he can name Zinchenho at left-back following an impressive debut from the £30m signing.

At right-back, Cedric Soares can start if Tomiyasu isn't ready, but judging by how the Gunners lined up against Chelsea that role might go to Benjamin White - who has overcome a fitness issue of his own to feature in the final two games of the tour and looks comfortable in that position.

That would then leave William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes as the central defensive pairing and Arteta may have 'accidentally' hinted this will be the case as they were the only two players to complete the full 90 minutes against the Blues - perhaps giving them time to forge an understanding.

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