Arsenal are currently without ten players due to the World Cup, including Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and Granit Xhaka.
Nevertheless, Mikel Arteta is still taking training at London Colney for those who did not reach the World Cup, such as Oleksandr Zinchenko, £30m man Martin Ødegaard and Gabriel Magalhaes.
Now, an interesting piece of information has emerged about those who did not travel to Qatar.
What’s the story?
Well, according to Football London, the Arsenal players were given ten days off by Arteta ahead of four friendlies during the World Cup break.
The Gunners decided to stagger the return of their players, although some actually decided to cut their breaks short and return to London Colney earlier than expected.
Namely, the likes of Zinchenko, Gabriel, Eddie Nketiah, Reiss Nelson and Rob Holding all came back to training.
However, Arteta is still without Kieran Tierney, Ødegaard and Fabio Vieira.
The first two of those names have been in friendly action for Scotland and Norway respectively, although it is unknown why Vieira is not yet back in training, seeing as he was not included in Portugal’s 26-man World Cup squad.
Arsenal squad clearly in high spirits
In our view, the news that some players have returned to training early just goes to show what type of environment Arteta has created at London Colney.
Clearly, it is a place where the players want to be, and feel comfortable.
Of course, nobody could be criticised for taking all ten days of their break, but it speaks volumes about just how hungry the Arsenal players are to succeed and better themselves, with many coming back early.
Arteta evidently has a group of highly motivated individuals desperate to impress him, so it wouldn’t surprise us to see the north Londoners finish the campaign with silverware.
Keep an eye on the upcoming friendlies, as a few fringe players will have a huge chance to catch Arteta’s eye.
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