3 players who gave Mikel Arteta food for thought during the international break

Club football is back... almost! Arsenal finally return to action on Saturday lunchtime, welcoming Leeds United to the Emirates, their first home match since the win over Chelsea five weeks ago.

15 members of Mikel Arteta's squad have been in action for their countries during this elongated break, so who will have most impressed their club manager, staking a claim to start this weekend.

Jurriën Timber

Are Arsenal ever allowed to have Jurriën Timber and Benjamin White available at the same time? The Dutchman missed almost the entirety of the 2023/24 due to an ACL injury suffered on debut, which meant that the England defender was run into the ground. Thus, White then suffered a long-term knee injury, meaning Timber was substantially overplayed the following year.

This scenario happened again, with Timber back on the bench at the Stadium of Light, only for White to be forced off due to a hamstring issue. However, finally, could Arteta have both from which to choose? Since the Dutchman joined, the Gunners have played 181 matches, with both available for only 63 of them, featuring together a miserly 18 times.

However, White is set to be available, having had to international break to recover. Meantime, Timber has been eased back into action by the Netherlands, starting at centre-back against Greece in Thessaloniki last Thursday. The Englishman had started the season in scintillating form, but Timber's return will give Arteta a decision to make.

Myles Lewis-Skelly

When Bruno Guimarães arrived from Newcastle, given the fee and his stature, it was not a stretch to suggest that the Brazilian, alongside Declan Rice and Martin Ødegaard, was set to be the first-choice midfield trio. However, after Guimarães suffered a knock during the FA Community Shield, Myles Lewis-Skelly started the first four Premier League matches of the season, looking excellent.

With Bruno back, the 20 year old was benched against Brighton, and perhaps one only appreciated what he brings to the team in his absence. With Rice allowed time to rest, Lewis-Skelly started England's first two matches of this window in midfield, looking particularly excellent against world and European champions Spain at Wembley.

Meantime, Brazil have played two matches in Australia, before taking on India last weekend. Guimarães scored in Brisbane and then played the second half in Kolkata, but has endured excessive travel in the last week or so, meaning Lewis-Skelly could get the nod against Leeds.

Viktor Gyökeres

Undoubtably, the biggest winner of the international window in the Arsenal squad is Viktor Gyökeres. He scored in all four of Sweden's UEFA Nations League matches, on target during wins over Romania and Poland at the Nationalarenan, before also scoring against Bosnia in Zenica and then bagging the only goal at Arena Națională to defeat Romania on Monday night.

In 2026, Gyökeres has found the target ten times in just 11 appearances for the Blågult. In stark contrast, the two times he has started for Arsenal this season, against Napoli and Ipswich, the 28 year old has looked totally lost. Across these two games, he has mustered just one shot and touched the ball only 27 times in 163 minutes on the field.

So, how does Arteta get the best out of his number nine, as Graham Potter seems to do at international level? Well, with Kai Havertz injured, we're about to find out. Gyökeres scored three times across two meetings with Leeds last season, hoping that is a sign that more is to come.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow