William Saliba is set to rejoin training with Arsenal this weekend, along with the returning Euro 2024 finalists.
(From L) France’s Theo Hernandez, William Saliba, Marcus Thuram, Olivier Giroud, and Jules Kounde celebrate after winning the UEFA Euro 2024 quarter-final football match between Portugal and France at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg on July 5, 2024. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)
At this stage of pre-season, the only Arsenal players still on their summer holidays are those who made it to the latter stages of Euro 2024.
Earlier this week, Mikel Arteta confirmed that Euro 2024 finalists Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Aaron Ramsdale, and David Raya would all return to training this weekend, but there was no mention of semi-finalist William Saliba.
It turns out that omission was unintentional, with Simon Collings of The Standard reporting that Saliba will also be back this weekend.
(From L) France’s William Saliba and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo fight for the ball during the UEFA Euro 2024 quarter-final football match between Portugal and France at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg on July 5, 2024. (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO / AFP)
The Gunners had plenty of players involved in summer internationals at Euro 2024 and Copa America, and those players needed a bit of extra time off before linking back up with their club teammates.
Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Magalhaes, and Kai Havertz all returned last week, and the final group are now set to return in the next couple of days.
The Euros final took place on July 14th, so the standard three weeks off would see the finalists available again on Sunday. Saliba has already been off for three weeks now.
France’s William Saliba eyes the ball during the UEFA Euro 2024 Group D football match between Austria and France at the Duesseldorf Arena in Duesseldorf on June 17, 2024. (Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)
Arsenal are back in London already, preparing for a friendly against Bayer Leverkusen next Wednesday, August 7th.
The Gunners then have one more game against Lyon on Sunday, August 11th, before the competitive action kicks off with a game against Wolves the following Saturday, August 17th.
It’s encouraging that Rice, Saka, Ramsdale, Raya, and Saliba should be able to get minutes in one or two games before the new campaign kicks off, given four of them are likely starters for Arteta in 2024/25.
