Catch all the latest Arsenal news, including updates on pre-season, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Andrea Berta and Edu Gaspar.
The Arsenal squad is currently on holiday, enjoying the off-season as the North London club’s hierarchy look to conduct transfer business to ensure Mikel Arteta’s team are equipped to conquer next campaign.
The international fixtures have concluded, although the Club World Cup has now commenced in the United States, while the Under-21 European Championship and the Gold Cup are also taking place over the summer.
With that said, here’s a look at the latest news ahead of another big day.
Arsenal set to host the Emirates Cup this summer
Arsenal will travel to Asia for their pre-season tour this summer, having spent the last three years in the United States.
Games against AC Milan and Newcastle await in Singapore, before Arteta’s side face Thomas Frank’s Tottenham in Hong Kong at the end of July.
Unsurprisingly, it looks as though Arsenal will add more fixtures to their pre-season schedule, with an Emirates Cup being earmarked for the weekend before the Premier League season starts in August.
The Gunners may also play another home game before the official campaign commences, after the North London Derby and before the Emirates Cup.
Read more on Arsenal’s pre-season.
Takehiro Tomiyasu injury update emerges
Takehiro Tomiyasu played just once for Arsenal during the 2024/25 season, managing a seven-minute cameo for the Gunners against Southampton back in October.
Plagued by injuries throughout his career in North London, the Japan international underwent knee surgery in February.
His prospects don’t look great moving forward, with journalist Charles Watts revealing on his YouTube channel that Tomiyasu isn’t expected to return until later this year.
“The hope is that he’ll be back at the end of the year, so around November time,” Watts said.
“But this is a really difficult injury that he’s coming back from. I don’t think anyone’s going to put a firm timeline on it.
“He’s certainly not going to be back for pre-season, or the last I heard there was absolutely no chance he was going to be back for the start of pre-season or the start of the season.”
Read more on Tomiyasu’s injury issues.
Andrea Berta is conducting a different transfer strategy to Edu Gaspar
Andrea Berta was appointed as Arsenal’s sporting director in March, replacing Edu Gaspar, who had been in the role since 2019.
The Italian is significantly more experienced in this sort of position than Edu was when the Brazilian was given the job at the Emirates, and this naturally means the two have differing approaches to the transfer window.
Speaking on talkSPORT about the pair of football administrators, journalist Ben Jacobs explained this: “The best way of describing it is that Andrea Berta’s approach is different to Edu. If he was going to a party, he would lay out three or four outfits, try them all on and finally decide what to wear.
“With this race for a number nine, what’s happening is that both deals, for Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres, are being advanced or ‘tried on’ before a bid is made.
“Andrea Berta is out in the market, effectively lining up both deals, whereas Edu tended to pick one and be very meticulous, and then discreetly try and get it over the line, often with a series of bids.
“It was either a very smart tactic because Arsenal had confidence that they would get that man, or it dragged on and we got more summer sagas. We won’t see that with Andrea Berta.”
Read more on Berta and Edu’s differences here.
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