ARSENE Wenger will take the Arsenal to China to play Hangzhou Greentown on July 16, it can be revealed. We knew the dates of the games but not the opponents and the match will probably take place in Yiwu City, four hours’ rail journey from Shanghai.
Yiwu City is located 100 km south of the city of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province. The stadium choice will probably be the Yiwu Meihu Stadium, which holds 35,000. The Gunners will also play a game in Kuala Lumpur, probably against the Malaysian national team but this has to be confirmed.
The team will take part in an open training session the day before the game in China and fly back to Blighty the day after, we have learned. The trip is a first for AW, who prefers to take the squad to a low-key tour of Austria but it is understood that the club can longer afford to miss out on marketing opportunites in Aisa and beyond.
And Gunners star Andrey Arshavin is delighted at the news that he is off to China and Malaysia with the Emirates squad. He said on his personal website: “Arsenal will travel to play the exhibition games. And instead of boring Austria, the team has planned a trip to China. Initially the club was supposed to go to Japan, but because of the tsunami, one of the preparation stages for the season has been transferred to Malaysia and China.”
See you out there…
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