3 Arsenal players that need to impress in pre-season

Mikel Arteta’s Gunners will soon be back for the start of pre-season ahead of a busy summer schedule.

Arsenal nailed pre-season last time out, winning all of their non-competitive encounters which stood them in good stead for 2022/23. A similar plan is in store this summer with Arteta’s men facing Nurnberg in Germany before flying out to the States for three fixtures.

The club will then return to the UK for the Emirates Cup and Community Shield before the start of the 2023/24 Premier League season on 12 August.

The squad is bound to look a little different come the conclusion of pre-season, and there’s no doubt that a big summer lies ahead for several members of Arteta’s first team.

3 Arsenal players that need to impress in pre-season

Here are three players that need to impress the boss in pre-season.

1. Ben White

Gooners believe that Kieran Tierney needs to enjoy a productive summer, but Arteta knows what the Scotsman is by now and I’m not sure an impressive pre-season will be enough to thrust him back to the forefront of the manager’s thinking. Plus, the left-back would probably be content departing in favour of greater opportunities elsewhere.

Thus, instead of Tierney, I think this could be an important period for Ben White.

White enjoyed an excellent season in a new role last time out, but the impending arrival of Jurrien Timber from Ajax and Takehiro Tomiyasu’s return from injury means the competition will be fierce for the starting right-back spot come the start of the season.

White certainly did enough in 2022/23 to remain the first choice for now, but he’ll be put under a bit of pressure should Timber come in and hit the ground running right away. A strong summer will stand him in good stead heading into 2023/24.

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