Arsenal's Key Players Return for Community Shield Clash Against Manchester City
Mikel Arteta will have Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka back at his disposal when Arsenal face Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday, with the pair cleared to return after their post-World Cup breaks.
The England duo, key pillars of Arsenal’s spine, are back in full training following the national team’s run to the World Cup semi-finals in North America and are in contention for the season’s traditional curtain-raiser in Cardiff, where the Premier League champions meet the FA Cup holders.
Rice is not the only major midfield boost. Martin Zubimendi, fresh from lifting the World Cup with Spain, has also rejoined the squad and is available.
“They will be available,” Arteta said of Rice, Saka and Zubimendi at his pre-match press conference on Friday. “They trained with us today, they will train tomorrow. If they are in the condition we expect them to be, they will be involved.”
Saka back early, Saliba ruled out
Saka had originally been scheduled to report back on Monday, but he cut his holiday short and returned on Saturday, alongside Spain goalkeeper David Raya. The early arrivals underline the urgency of Arsenal’s preparations as they chase another step forward after last season’s title push.
Several others have already been thrown back into action. Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke and Mikel Merino all returned from their breaks and featured in Wednesday’s pre-season draw with Como, as did Raya.
The defensive news is less encouraging. William Saliba faces an extended spell out with a long-term back problem. The issue, aggravated during the World Cup, does not require surgery but will keep the French centre-back sidelined for a significant period.
Saka spent much of the second half of last season managing an Achilles problem, while Rice revealed during the World Cup that he had been battling neural pain in his hamstring since Christmas, on top of a later calf issue and illness. Arteta, though, is convinced the summer has reset both of them physically.
“We haven’t noticed anything,” he said. “They have individual plans. Through the time they had with the national team they’ve been trying to evolve those issues and they have improved.
“In the rest period that they had, they both had specific programmes for themselves. They’ve been doing those and so far what I saw the last two or three days, it was really good.”
Timber still “weeks away”
Jurrien Timber will not feature against City. The versatile defender is still working his way back from a persistent groin injury that has troubled him since March.
The Dutch international missed the World Cup completely and only made a brief return off the bench in the Champions League final in May. Arteta said earlier this week that Timber remained “weeks away” from a comeback, and that timeline has not shifted dramatically, even if the tone is more optimistic.
“[He is] progressing really well,” Arteta said when asked for an update ahead of the clash with Enzo Maresca’s City. “He’s on the pitch, we’re ramping up now certain actions, especially the volume and the load.
“I think he’s on a good trajectory but still a few weeks to go. With Willy [Saliba], it is a more long-term injury.”
Pressed on whether Timber could make it back before the international break next month, Arteta refused to draw a line in the sand.
“I don’t know. We have to wait and see,” he said. “He needs to start to train with the group in the next week or so hopefully and then see how he progresses from there.
“But obviously it’s been a long-term issue and we want to make sure that every step that we take is the right one. He’s such an important player for us.”
Arsenal head to Cardiff with their attacking core restored, their midfield strengthened and their defence patched together. Against the champions, in the first real examination of the new campaign, we are about to find out how much that balance really holds.
