Arsenal might not yet be halfway through the Premier League season but that does not mean long-term plans are not already under discussion. A lot of work goes into the decisions behind the summer trips for pre-season.
For the past three years, Arsenal have travelled to the United States for their summer pre-season plans. In fact, the run stretches back even further through to 2019 when the Gunners took on Colorado Rapids, Bayern Munich, Fiorentina and Real Madrid in the States.
The two following years were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and so pre-season matches were not held abroad. Arsenal have not travelled for pre-season to a nation outside of the United States since 2018 when they played in Singapore in the International Champions Cup under Unai Emery and then flew to Sweden to play Lazio.
The reason why there is a good chance that Arsenal may indeed not play in the States this summer is due to the expanded Club World Cup. Previously involving only the winners of the respective Champions League iterations of each footballing federation, 2025 marks the first year of the 32-team tournament kicking off.
The tournament is held between June 15 to July 13, which is, of course, slightly before Arsenal typically fly away for their pre-season plans. Yet the added stress on the American footballing infrastructure while the MLS season also is ongoing creates further obstacles.
Arsenal did not qualify for the Club World Cup tournament as only two clubs per country were permitted to take part. Manchester City and Chelsea’s wins in the Champions League in 2023 and 2021 respectively are what granted them the chance to compete.
When Arsenal have not been in the States they have gone to a variety of locations. The aforementioned trip to Singapore in 2018 was preceded the year before by a very long flight out to Australia.
It appears that when it is not the States, both Asia and Australia are viable options for potential alternatives. Africa remains a rarely visited continent although Arsene Wenger had planned to take his side to Lagos, Nigeria in 2012 but it was later cancelled.
"We could not get comfortable on everything needed to satisfy our requirements," said Arsenal marketing director Angus Kinnear. Arsenal would instead go to the Indonesian capital Jakarta, Vietnam and Japan where in the latter the Gunners faced the French coach’s former side Nagoya Grampas.
Where Arsenal will go next remains a mystery. Plus, there is always the likelihood that the Emirates Cup will also return.