Mikel Arteta Hails Aaron Ramsdale Following Emotional Interview
The sheer size of Arsenal's first-team squad will be highlighted once more about an hour before this afternoon's (Sunday) Community Shield clash against Manchester City.
As a result of Pep Guardiola's side being crowned Premier League champions again and beating rivals Manchester United 2-1 in the FA Cup final back in June, the north London outfit's reward for a second-place finish in the Premier League table is to contest the season's annual curtain raiser at Wembley Stadium.
And by the time the Gunners take to the pitch, 70 days will have passed since Mikel Arteta last named a 20-man matchday squad for a competitive fixture and he will have to make at least three alterations given Granit Xhaka and Mauro Bandeira are no longer at the club and Gabriel Jesus is injured.
In fact, as things currently stand and going by the club's official website, Arsenal have 34 first-team players listed. This means Arteta will have to leave as many as 14 senior stars at home for the game against City in the scenario that no more transfers are completed between now and kick-off.
Had it not been for Auston Trusty's £5million transfer to Sheffield United being announced earlier in the week then that would have been another player under consideration but even with confirmation of that deal, the Gunners boss still has a number of tough decisions even if some appear straightforward.
Judging by how pre-season has gone, it wouldn't be too much of a surprise if Nicolas Pepe, Nuno Tavares, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Arthur Okonkwo and Runar Alex Runarsson do not make the matchday squad against Man City alongside the aforementioned injured Jesus.
Then there's Mohamed Elneny who isn't expected to be available until September at the earliest following knee surgery and the fact Folarin Balogun hasn't been spotted in training since picking up an injury is perhaps a clear indication that he won't be available for selection either.
However, in a double fitness boost, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Reiss Nelson could be in contention after taking part in Friday's training session. Now, whilst it can be argued that Arsenal have strength in depth, the idea of leaving out 10+ players every week is something that doesn't appeal to Arteta.Therefore, in a bid to avoid this scenario once the Premier League season gets underway, the Spaniard has outlined his plan to trim down the senior squad to an appropriate size and he has until September 1 when the summer transfer window closes to complete the mission.
"Well, we're in the process. We’re working on a few things. We have to make a few decisions," Arteta said in the pre-match press conference. "There's still time to do that. We’re very happy with the squad we have that’s for sure. As well we have to make sure we can share the minutes around the team to have a healthy competition in the squad and we’re working on that."
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