Arsenal have announced the 27 players that will travel to Asia for their pre-season tour in Singapore.
Arsene Wenger has named a strong squad going into pre-season, with a large number of starting XI players named in the team. Arsenal newboy, Petr Cech, is also named in the squad along with Wojciech Szczesny and Emiliano Martinez.
Wenger has also enlisted a number of youth players for Arsenal’s trip to Asia. Dan Crowley, Chris Willock and Alex Iwobi have been called into the squad and could make appearances for Arsenal during pre-season. All three players were key players for Arsenal’s under-21 team last season and Dan Crowley is highly tipped to burst onto the scene this season for the Arsenal first team this season.
The most notable absentees from the squad are Alexis Sanchez and David Ospina, who both competed in the Copa America in Chile, meaning that they will be rested for a couple of weeks before returning to training. Serge Gnabry will also miss the tour due to his involvement with the Germany under 21’s team in the UEFA European under-21 Championships in the Czech Republic.
Danny Welbeck and Tomas Rosicky will also miss the pre-season trip due to minor injuries. England right-back, Calum Chambers will travel to Singapore, as will France Under-17 international, Jeff Reine-Adelaide, who joined the Arsenal from Lens.
Wenger told Arsenal.com: "Calum has decided to shorten his holiday and come back on Friday. "He didn’t play in the under-21s and needs preparations.” "Welbeck isn’t completely recovered from the problem he had [at the end of last season]. He’s not back in full training so he will stay behind.
"Rosicky will stay back because he got a small injury at his last game against Iceland with Czech Republic. "Ospina is on holiday until July 27 and Alexis is on holiday until August 3. Serge Gnabry is on holiday after playing with the under-21s. He’s back on July 20."
Arsenal will play a Singapore Select XI on July 15th and the Gunners will then take place in the Barclays Asia Trophy pre-season tournament on 18th July.
Arsenal pre-season squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Petr Cech, Wojciech Szczesny, Emiliano Martinez
Defenders: Hector Bellerin, Calum Chambers, Mathieu Debuchy, Gabriel, Kieran Gibbs, Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal.
Midfielders: Mikel Arteta, Santi Cazorla, Francis Coquelin, Dan Crowley, Mathieu Flamini, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Gedion Zelalem, Jack Wilshere.
Attackers: Chuba Akpom, Olivier Giroud, Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Theo Walcott, Alex Iwobi, Chris Willock.
