Arsenal pre-season plans step up as Mikel Arteta to welcome squad back early before start date
16:13, 13 Jul 2026Updated 16:38, 13 Jul 2026
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta welcomes back his players in Marbella for pre-season preparations
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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta welcomes back his players in Marbella for pre-season preparations(Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Arsenal are expected to start their pre-season plans officially next week and will return on Monday, 20 July, football.london understands. However, preparations are already underway with Mikel Arteta’s annual offer to those players wishing to get an early start.
football.london understands Arteta has again hosted some less intensive pre-pre-season sessions in Marbella once again for his squad. Some players are believed to have already joined up with the Premier League-winning manager.
Ben White has returned early from his break and was spotted in the Arsenal announcement video of new signing Illan Meslier at the Sobha Realty Training Centre. Whether he is with Arteta, however, is undetermined, but the England international did post images to his Instagram of him running at The Campus, a private multi-sports hub for athletes in Portugal, on June 25.
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However, White is among several players not at this summer’s World Cup who could yet join up with Arteta. Myles Lewis-Skelly, Cristhian Mosquera, Christian Norgaard, Riccardo Calafiori, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Max Dowman, Ethan Nwaneri, Gabriel Jesus, Tommy Setford, Marli Salmon, Fabio Vieira, and Reiss Nelson.
Many of the youth squad, if invited, could have also been included. While Jurrien Timber continues his rehabilitation and could also be with the group.
The Dutch international, who pulled out of the World Cup due to an ongoing groin issue, posted on June 18 that he too had taken some time off, posting some snaps on a boat and beach in an unknown location.
With the official pre-season starting next week, those who were eliminated from the World Cup will be making their way back after they have been given the allotted three-week holiday period. Kai Havertz, Piero Hincapie, Gabriel, Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Martinelli were all eliminated before the quarter-final stage.
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Arsenal’s first pre-season match is on August 1 in Girona. They face the former La Liga side in Spain before flying to Dublin to play another Spanish side, Real Betis, on August 5.