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Arsenal pre-season tour## football.london discusses what their looking forward to ahead of attending the pre-season matches in Spain and Ireland
14:15, 30 Jul 2026
Arsenal are set to begin their pre-season schedule on Saturday when they kick off their run of five matches, beginning with the trip to Girona. The players have already been in the sweltering temperatures of southwest Europe for a few days and have welcomed back some new faces, too.
Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Magalhaes are understood to be joining the group ahead of the game on Saturday. football.london will be in attendance for the fixture before also flying out to Dublin for Arsenal’s clash with Real Betis.
After a summer of football, the question of whether we’re ready for even more before getting right back into the new Premier League campaign is an obvious one. Of course we are!
As a result, our Arsenal reporter, Tom Canton, who will be making the trip, thought he would run through what he’s most looking forward to on his travels this weekend in the hot Spanish town of Girona.
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Club football
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the World Cup, but my passion for international football compared to club football simply cannot compare. I’d rather Arsenal won the League Cup than England winning the World Cup… which I know is not going to be popular with everyone, but it’s worth mentioning just for context alone.
Getting back into the swing of the new season with Arsenal is exciting, especially because the summer has somewhat distracted everyone from being reminded of what they should have been thinking about… the champions! Arsenal’s Premier League title feels like it's faded somewhat in the mainstream and we cannot be having that!
Christos Tzolis
Despite not being as busy as many would have liked by this stage of the summer, there has been some activity. While names like Bruno Guimaraes and Vini Jr are both still in the pipeline with varying levels of plausibility, it is Christos Tzolis who will be in the spotlight.
Expected to feature heavily during the summer’s matches, the Greek winger comes in to replace the departed Leandro Trossard. 51 goal contributions for Club Brugge last season were what piqued the club’s interest, and now he’ll be looking to contribute plenty in the new campaign for the Gunners, starting with this first real look in Girona.
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While we have heard from Mikel Arteta already this summer, where he discussed the parade, ambitions for the new season and even transfers, these games in Girona and Dublin will allow for questioning from the press. There is a lot of intrigue about how Arsenal will evolve next season.
Set pieces and defensive solidity formed such a strong backbone and enabled Arsenal to win so many tightly contested clashes. But there are expectations for things to improve even more and to cement their competitiveness.
There will also be an opportunity to hear from some of the Arsenal squad, both new and existing players. Where their hunger for more comes from and what needs to improve.
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Tom Canton
Tom Canton
Tom Canton joined football.london as the Arsenal Fan Brand Writer and Presenter before becoming a permanent Arsenal Reporter in 2025. Tom produces plenty of analytical content in addition to breaking stories and is a regular attendee at matches and press conferences. Can also be found on YouTube @TheGoonerTalkTV
Arsenal pre-season tour
Arsenal pre-season
Mikel Arteta