Arsenal are about to begin their preseason tour of the Asia with matches to be played in Singapore and in Hong Kong. The Gunners will play Ac Milan, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspurs in the Asia tour of 2025.
Softfootball gathered that the last time Arsenal were in Singapore was 2015 when Mikel Arteta captained the Arsenal team that won the 2015 Premier League Asia trophy under Arsene Wenger. Now Mikel Arteta was full of excitement as he faced the press ahead of the game against AC Milan on Wednesday.
According to the Arsenal website, Arteta hopes they can replicate what they did in 2015 and also explained his feelings on the 2015 win and a return after 10 years. He stated that:
“It’s a great story. Probably 10 years ago, I wasn’t expecting to be sitting where I am. A lot happened. I have great memories for the time that we had ten years ago here.
“Hopefully, we can replicate that. Train in the manner that we want. Commercially as well, send the messages and the connection we want to the supporters. We have to perform in the matches. Do it and win the games.
“Our supporters here are very passionate already. They are very excited to see the team. They haven’t seen the team for a while. So live it, connect with them.
“As well as immersing in the culture, we try to understand the way they feel about us and make them proud. That’s the objective.”
The 2020 FA Cup winner also narrated how he feels about the signing of Martin Zubimendi and Noni Madueke who is the latest addition of the Gunners. He explained why Zubimendi’s transfer took so long before joining Arsenal. He said:
“It was a long, long process. He had a lot of opportunities to decide whether he wanted to come. The good news is that this club is amazing, and everybody wants to come to it. He left some very good opportunities to come to us.
“We are all very impressed with what we’ve seen in the last seven to ten days. Once you have the player daily there and you see his character, his personality, his intelligence, and how much he’s going to bring to the team. I’m very excited about it.
On buying from rivals Chelsea continuously and on Madueke joining from rivals, Arteta said he is more excited than ever. He continued by saying:
“It’s probably because they have some great players and a lot of players. But we try to focus on the players that we want to sign, regardless of the club they are in.
“It’s probably a coincidence. What is not a coincidence is the squad and the quality of the squad. While I’m here as well, I congratulate them for winning the Club World Cup because I think it was a big achievement for them.
“With Noni, I’m very, very excited. You’ve seen the reaction of all the players as well, especially the ones who know him very well. He needs a little bit of a break now, but he will be with us soon showing what he’s going to bring to the team.”
The boss also revealed the latest on Gabriel, who missed the end of last season with a hamstring injury. He confirmed the Brazilian defender and the rest of the squad have reported back for duty in excellent shape. He explained that:
“Well, we haven’t seen them for four or six weeks. They come back and they seem older, more mature, really excited. Gabi as well, because with his new contract as well he showed his commitment to the club and that he continues to grow in his role. So I’m very pleased.
“He played 45 minutes against Watford on Saturday. He looks in good shape. William Saliba as well. We have missed a lot of players at the end of the season, but they all look to be in the right direction and to be fit and contributing too.”
The Gunners are still in the pursuit of a number 9 with Viktor Gyokeres appeared to be completing his move to the Gunners soon. Although Arteta did not give a certain information on the Gyokeres deal or any other deal to be done by the Gunners.
“We are constantly looking in the market, but until that happens, I can focus on the players that we actually have, work with them.
“I’m very pleased with what I’ve seen so far in the first 10-15 days.
Arsenal are pushing to win their first Premier League tittle in 22 years and are hoping to lay hands on the trophy at the end of the coming season.
