Arsenal's preseason Asia tour in review

HONG KONG -- On Arsenal's archetypal greeting astatine their Hong Kong waterside edifice -- the lavish Rosewood successful Victoria Dockside -- squad manager Mikel Arteta walked done a lobby country adjacent the elevators and was abruptly confronted by astatine slightest 50 autograph hunters who had edged person to the interior sanctum than unit had planned. Arteta called for calm, signing a fewer shirts desperately flung successful his direction, earlier information intervened and bid was restored.

As metaphors go, it was connected point: He'd amended get utilized to surprises coming astir the corner.

It was besides an illustration of the strength that has defined the club's preseason travel to Asia, a operation of utmost hospitality, hyperbole and humidity it volition anticipation serves arsenic the close precursor to what mightiness beryllium the astir scrutinized and high-pressure play yet for Arteta and his players. They person been Premier League runners-up successful the past 3 seasons. The hold for silverware is present 5 years. And the club's messaging during this circuit has focused connected "reaching caller heights."

Taking that literally, determination is lone 1 spot to go.

- Ready to go: Gyökeres unfazed by Arsenal pressure, taking Henry's No. 14
- What we're proceeding successful the transportation window: Arsenal inactive unfastened to Eze deal; Man Utd striker hunt latest
- Why everyone is talking astir Arsenal's Max Dowman, 15

Arsenal person spent much than £200 cardinal connected six caller signings, including the halfway guardant truthful galore fans person craved for years. Viktor Gyökeres threatened to overshadow this circuit until helium joined it, expanding the excitement among fans to the constituent wherever his sanction was cheered the loudest astatine the Kai Tak Stadium erstwhile Arsenal played Tottenham Hotspur connected Thursday.

Expectations are high. Arteta is already rebranding "pressure" arsenic belief, claiming those who accidental Arsenal should triumph the league this play bash truthful retired of an accompanying admittance that they are so bully capable to bash it, thing his players should truthful instrumentality arsenic a compliment.

Ten months to recognize their dreams present prevarication ahead. Here's what ESPN learned from spending clip with the squad successful Singapore and Hong Kong arsenic it gears up for the challenge.

Arrival successful Singapore

Shortly aft arriving successful Singapore, Arteta and managing manager Richard Garlick addressed players and unit astatine their edifice connected Sentosa Island, sources told ESPN. Those with cognition of the gathering described the takeaway taxable successful 1 word: energy. Sources said that connection was utilized repeatedly during a speech focused connected gathering themselves for the play ahead.

Their resoluteness was instantly tested. Arsenal's archetypal grooming league was postponed owed to a stunning rainstorm -- emblematic successful the portion -- that near Arteta facing the media astir lunchtime, unsure whether the squad could rearrange thing for aboriginal successful the day. It yet did, but astatine the disbursal of pushing backmost assorted commercialized commitments successful an already packed schedule. That said, the club's distant kit motorboat took spot that evening arsenic planned, with Mikel Merino, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Martín Zubimendi and Riccardo Calafiori making an quality alongside histrion Will Poulter.

The players trained astatine the National Stadium nether the roof. Multiple sources suggested they recovered the humidity stifling successful some sessions, though Declan Rice aboriginal said, "The humidity helps get the fittingness up truthful I'm truly enjoying it."

The Gyökeres effect -- and Berta

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Arsenal with 'a batch to learn' pursuing Spurs defeat

Arsenal brag Mikel Arteta reflects connected his side's 1-0 decision to Tottenham successful Hong Kong.

Arsenal bushed AC Milan 1-0 successful their archetypal circuit lucifer connected July 23, but arsenic the main Singapore National Stadium camera singled retired Arsenal fans successful the crowd, galore utilized the accidental to mimic Gyökeres' masked extremity celebration. Sources told ESPN that reports connected societal media suggesting a woody had been finalized successful the days earlier the crippled were successful information premature; adjacent Friday evening section time, elder Arsenal executives were inactive acrophobic astir the last points of the woody being agreed upon aft lengthy negotiations with Sporting CP.

Sources said Sporting had proved hard negotiators, but Arsenal sporting manager Andrea Berta showed his worth successful getting it implicit the line. Berta has impressed Arsenal's cardinal decision-makers, who judge him to beryllium each spot the apical enforcement they hoped they had landed aft Edu Gaspar's abrupt departure successful November.

Sources said that immoderate astatine Arsenal believed Berta was unattainable, fixed his longstanding transportation to Atletico Madrid. However, enforcement vice seat Tim Lewis and Garlick met with Berta on with different candidates earlier Berta aboriginal met with Arteta -- and finally, Josh Kroenke -- to guarantee the club's owner, Kroenke Sports Enterprises, had owed input. Some elder figures astatine the nine gag that Berta ne'er seems to slumber -- his enactment ethic has amazed adjacent those who were already impressed with his assemblage of work.

Berta has been near to pb negotiations successful galore instances this summertime and regularly reports backmost to the club's cardinal decision-makers. Sources said the Italian's wide and regular connection has been different invited characteristic.

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Arteta: Gyökeres knows what the No. 14 garment means to Arsenal

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta believes caller signing Viktor Gyökeres understands the value of the fig 14 garment to the club.

Arteta, Lewis and Garlick -- on with the reappointed manager of shot operations, James King -- had settled connected the request to adhd much scoring powerfulness astatine the apical extremity of the transportation during their November gathering with the club's owners successful Los Angeles, earlier Berta's arrival, but the Italian had an progressive input into identifying the preferred option. Sources said Arsenal considered Alexander Isak astatine Newcastle, but harbored respective doubts astir a deal. Not lone did they judge Newcastle were highly improbable to fto him leave, but whether his fittingness grounds suggested that helium could beryllium relied upon each week arsenic a £100 million-plus signing would request to be.

The Gunners conducted elaborate inheritance enactment connected Benjamin Sesko astatine RB Leipzig for good implicit a year. However, preliminary talks suggested a woody would beryllium costly for a subordinate of Sesko's mostly untapped potential. Figures quoted for the transportation interest and idiosyncratic presumption acceptable disconnected alarm bells, successful portion due to the fact that of the imaginable downside hazard if helium proved an unsuccessful signing.

Sources said the nine was besides conscious astir the intelligence demands of starring Arsenal's enactment and the scrutiny connected the position. Gyökeres' stunning extremity grounds for Sporting -- 97 successful 102 games -- positive a beardown condemnation successful his spot of quality convinced them helium was the antheral for the job.

After a €63 cardinal woody (plus €10m successful add-ons) was finally completed, Berta arrived with Gyökeres successful Singapore for their 2nd crippled of the tour, a 3-2 triumph implicit Newcastle, wherever they were greeted from the car by Lewis, who had lone conscionable flown successful himself, and Garlick. Fans were told to beryllium successful their seats for Gyökeres' authoritative unveiling astatine 7:15 p.m. -- 15 minutes earlier the scheduled kickoff clip -- and though the striker was a small sheepish erstwhile the infinitesimal came, it was a utile instauration to the accrued scrutiny helium is present facing.

Arsenal had primitively hoped to person Gyökeres connected their preseason circuit from the outset earlier talks slowed with Sporting. Their tendency to person him with the radical successful Singapore connected Sunday evening, contempt past making a four-hour travel to Hong Kong connected Tuesday, underlined Arteta's tendency to statesman his integration arsenic rapidly arsenic possible.

Style of play and robustness

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Will Viktor Gyökeres assistance Arsenal to the Premier League title?

Steve Nicol and Alejandro Moreno sermon Viktor Gyökeres' transportation to Arsenal.

There were immoderate acquainted patterns successful Arsenal's play crossed their 3 matches successful Hong Kong, adjacent successful their 1-0 nonaccomplishment to Tottenham successful the last crippled of the tour.

Ben White and Bukayo Saka combined good down the close flank; Martin Ødegaard was reinvigorated by that conduit thriving. Cynics would reason determination was a flimsy deficiency of potency against Spurs, arsenic was often evident successful the 2024-25 campaign, but the astir absorbing improvement was an accrued directness successful Arsenal's play.

Sources said determination is an acknowledgment internally that the Gunners volition person to accommodate their benignant to get the champion from Gyökeres. He is not a subordinate who is astatine his champion coming heavy to nexus the play successful the mode that Kai Havertz, for example, can. Instead, sources said, Gyökeres volition beryllium expected to play to his strengths betwixt the halfway backs, moving successful down arsenic overmuch arsenic possible. Sources said this won't needfully mean much long-ball soccer, conscionable much of an accent connected getting it guardant quicker.

There is besides a designation that mediocre subordinate availability outgo Arsenal dearly past season. A thorough reappraisal has included grooming plans and, particularly, workloads aft players instrumentality from planetary duty. Sources said, for example, that the nine identified that Gabriel Magalhães' wounded against Fulham successful April -- a hamstring occupation picked up successful the archetypal 16 minutes of the crippled -- came aft helium was distant connected planetary work and sprinting astatine a velocity Arsenal's interior information says helium reached for the archetypal clip successful 2 months.

Sources said the club's summertime transportation argumentation has been importantly influenced by uncovering players with a bully way grounds successful availability. Arteta revealed helium had efficaciously abandoned his tiered strategy of ranking players by the measurement of matches they had to play. Nevertheless, a done enactment crossed each their signings this summertime has been the pursuit of players who are seldom injured. Sources said there's inactive an acknowledgment that immoderate of this is purely down to luck nary substance however meticulous the planning.

Dowman proves the kids are each right

Arsenal look a hard balancing enactment with 15-year-old winger Max Dowman. Sources said helium amazed elder figures astatine the nine with his quality to instrumentality the preseason games successful his stride, making a notable cameo successful each 3 games. Dowman won the punishment that decided the crippled against Newcastle, portion Tottenham appeared to treble up connected him arsenic they protected their slender vantage astatine Kai Tak. His prodigious endowment has the instrumentality basal highly excited, and sources said Dowman appears to person everything successful spot to thrive astatine the highest level.

However, helium is simply a young teen not yet allowed to motion a nonrecreational declaration oregon adjacent alteration with his first-team colleagues. Sources said the nine are besides conscious that helium is, to enactment it simply, a increasing boy. No magnitude of interior information volition beryllium capable to conclusively reply whether Dowman, Marli Salmon oregon immoderate of the different young prospects yet person bodies capable to withstand the interaction of a beardown tackle successful the men's game.

Sources said Arteta is truthful inherently prone to protecting Dowman, a midfielder with an quality to instrumentality players connected and truthful apt to get tackled, adjacent astatine the hazard of taking disapproval from supporters who volition privation to spot him play much often. Time volition archer whether his endowment proves excessively large to resist.

Sources besides told ESPN that the nine is impressed with the enactment web Dowman has astir him, and that determination are plans to connection him a woody astir the crook of the year, possibly successful January.

Arteta's hunt for balance

Arteta is notoriously meticulous and aggravated successful his work, which mightiness beryllium portion of the crushed helium has struck up an contiguous rapport with Berta. However, sources said Arteta is much determined these days to punctual himself to instrumentality joyousness from the enactment helium is doing. There is, perhaps, determination successful determination an acknowledgment that his strength needs to beryllium nuanced.

For example, sources said Noni Madueke offered to conscionable up with the Arsenal squad instantly for their Asia circuit contempt winning the Club World Cup with Chelsea successful the United States conscionable a fewer days earlier his €52 cardinal switch. Arteta was initially keen connected the thought but past recognized the request for the subordinate to instrumentality a vacation and bask the triumph helium had conscionable secured.

It has, however, astatine times been hard to reconcile that hunt for equilibrium with what the bare oculus saw. The club's 2 unfastened grooming sessions connected the circuit saw Arteta play a highly progressive role, physically pushing players astir and joining successful the sessions himself.

Then again, helium knows helium indispensable beryllium prepared for thing -- immoderate comes astir the corner.