Mikel Arteta Confirms Key Players Available for Community Shield
Arsenal will walk out in Cardiff with their spine restored and their belief sharpened.
Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Martin Zubimendi are all set to be available for Sunday’s Community Shield showdown against Manchester City, a significant lift before the first trophy of the season is contested between the Premier League champions and the FA Cup holders.
“They will be available,” Arteta said on Friday, confirming that all three trained with the squad and are expected to be involved if they come through Saturday’s session as planned.
Rice, Saka and Zubimendi back in the fold
Rice and Saka only recently returned from their post-World Cup breaks after helping England reach the semi-finals in North America, while Zubimendi is back following Spain’s tournament triumph.
Saka had originally been scheduled to report back on Monday. Instead, he cut his holiday short and was back at London Colney on Saturday, alongside Spain goalkeeper David Raya. The message was clear: big season, no time to waste.
Arteta has every reason to welcome them back with relief. Saka spent much of the second half of last season nursing an Achilles problem, while Rice admitted during the World Cup that he had been managing neural pain in his hamstring since Christmas, then a calf issue and illness on top of that. Those knocks never quite derailed him, but they hovered in the background.
Now, after a rare spell of rest and tailored rehab, Arteta insists those concerns have eased.
“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.”
Zubimendi, fresh from lifting the World Cup with Spain, adds another layer of control and composure to the midfield options available in Cardiff. Against a City side that suffocates opponents in the middle of the pitch, his presence could be crucial.
Depth returns – but key absences remain
The returning faces do not stop there. Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke and Mikel Merino are also back from their holidays and all featured in Wednesday’s pre-season draw against Como, as did Raya.
Yet the optimism is tempered by one glaring absentee.
William Saliba is out for an extended spell with a long-term back issue. The problem, which was aggravated during the World Cup, does not require surgery but will keep the Frenchman sidelined at a time when Arsenal would dearly love his authority against Erling Haaland and company. For a defence that leans heavily on his calm, that is a significant hole.
Jurrien Timber is also missing for the Community Shield. The versatile defender is still battling a persistent groin injury that has troubled him since March and forced him to miss the World Cup, limiting him to a brief appearance off the bench in the Champions League final in May.
Arteta described the Dutch international as “weeks away” earlier in the week. That timeline has not shifted, even if the tone around his recovery has brightened slightly.
“[He is] progressing really well,” Arteta said ahead of facing a City side now led by former Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca. “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."
Asked if Timber might make it back before next month’s international break, Arteta refused to draw a line in the sand.
“I don’t know. We have to wait and see.
“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.”
So Arsenal head to Cardiff with their attacking talismans and midfield general restored, but without two of their most important defenders. Against a reshaped City under Maresca, the balance between risk and reward starts now – and so does the first real test of Arsenal’s depth for the season ahead.
