Simon Stone
BBC Sport in Los Angeles

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Four of the current crop of Arsenal academy players started against Bournemouth and enjoyed varying degrees of success.

Ethan Nwaneri only turned 17 in March but the England youth international had the confidence to burst past Marcos Senesi on an eye-catching run from inside his own half, eventually playing in Eddie Nketiah, who failed to take advantage.

Ayden Heaven is also 17 and looked composed at the heart of Arsenal’s defence. But Heaven was given a lesson in the standards required at the highest level as Dominic Solanke nipped past him, requiring young Gunners goalkeeper Karl Hein to make a brilliant reaction save to deny the Bournemouth striker, who scored 19 Premier League goals last term.

Salah-Eddine Oulad M’hand is a relative old hand at 20. He also has a season of first-team experience behind him from his native Netherlands after a loan spell with Den Bosch.

He was a threat down the left, although Reiss Nelson was more incisive, which Leicester City may well have noted given the Foxes are keen on signing the 24-year-old.

Craig T

Guy from Nottingham

Mark, Sheffield

Jonny

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has plenty of decisions to make concerning his squad before the transfer window closes, with the future of English forward Emile Smith Rowe more than likely at the top of that list.

In case you missed it earlier, the Gunners boss said that "things are happening" with regards to his future.

Smith Rowe, 23, has been linked with a possible move to Fulham.

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed the club are considering whether to send young goalkeeper Karl Hein out on loan.

With David Raya and Aaron Ramsdale both on a break after Spain and England reached the Euro 2024 final, Hein is the senior keeper on Arsenal's three-match tour of the United States.

However, a decision will eventually have to be made over the 22-year-old Estonia international, who signed a long-term contract extension in the summer.

The arrival of England youth international Tommy Setford from Ajax means it is more likely Hein - who was outstanding in the pre-season friendly against Bournemouth, making three key saves in the actual game and more in the penalty shootout which decided the contest in Los Angeles - will head out on loan.

"That's the conversation we are having," said Arteta.

"Obviously, David and Aaron are away at the moment and we are really really short in that position, but we want to develop our players - especially a player like Karl who has big potential and a big future ahead of him.

"He needs to play games, so we're going to explore that option as well."

Simon Stone
BBC Sport in Los Angeles

Bournemouth wore a kit in their 1-1 draw with Arsenal that was designed by the prominent American actor and film producer Michael B Jordan, who is part of Bill Foley's ownership group.

It did not have a front-of-shirt sponsor, although the club announced earlier this week that Asian online betting company BJ88 have signed a deal for the next two seasons, before gambling firms are banned from being the main sponsor by the Premier League.

Foley has set manager Andoni Iraola the stiff task of following up last season's 12th-placed finish by trying to secure a European place for the first time in the club's history.

For that, he needs goalscorer Dominic Solanke, who was by far Bournemouth's biggest attacking threat against the Gunners, to produce the kind of season he did in the last campaign.

Click here for more Bournemouth news, views and analysis.

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Simon Stone
BBC Sport in Los Angeles

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Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola was not about to let a narrow penalty shootout defeat by Arsenal spoil his overall reflections on a positive trip to the United States.

It is a decade since the Cherries' last visit - and this one was on a totally different scale, against high-profile opposition.

Iraola is delighted at how his players performed in draws against Wrexham and Arsenal.

But he understands there is a wider dimension to the two-match visit to California.

"Arsenal are used to coming here but it is something very important for us as a club," he said.

"Maybe lot of the people didn't know us or our players. Now they will be looking more at AFC Bournemouth.

"It takes a lot of time to build a brand. We are very happy. At the open training session [on Monday] there were a lot of people, including some who made the trip from England to be here.

"It is very good for the club."

Right, staying Stateside, let's get Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola's reaction to their penalty shootout defeat to Arsenal, after the match in Los Angeles finished 1-1...

Back to reality, Wrexham kick off their League One campaign at home to Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday, 10 August.

Co-owner Rob McElhenney said: "It's been difficult every year but it's only going to get harder."

Simon Stone
BBC Sport in Los Angeles

Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney found a lovely way to address his audience on the manicured lawn of the Wilshire Garden at the prestigious Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.

The massed ranks of the Welsh club’s men’s and women’s teams, assorted executives and at least one pub landlord toasted his remarks.

"I came here with a dream," said McElhenney, of his decision to move to LA from his native east coast of the United States when he was 25. "It was tough. But I aligned myself with the right people who changed my life.

"I have to guess you all had dreams like me. I am part of the 4% who make a living and get to do what they dreamed of doing. I guess you are the same. It is why you are here in California, continuing to live your dream.

"To all of us dreamers, I say cheers."

Click here to read more

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Whether or not we should be reading too much into it, the Wrexham players certainly seemed to enjoy their pre-season warm-up against Chelsea...

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Chris

Ryan

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Since Wrexham's Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took charge of the club, interest has grown in the United States.

And results have mirrored that, with the club making impressive progress, rising up from non-league, culminating with promotion from League Two last season.

That progress has continued into a promising pre-season, with a 5-1 opening win for Wrexham against Northern Premier League side Hanley Town followed by creditable draws against Bournemouth and now Chelsea in the United States.

Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson believes his side should have beaten "billion-pound team" Chelsea.

The newly promoted League One club almost shocked their Premier League rivals in a 2-2 draw watched by 32,724 fans at the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Jack Marriott and Luke Bolton’s second-half goals put Wrexham ahead after Christopher Nkunku’s first-half strike, but Lesley Ugochukwu’s 82nd-minute equaliser rescued a draw for new Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca.

Parkinson is impressed by the progress being made by his side, saying: “I am absolutely delighted. You’ve got to put it into context. We’ve played a billion-pound team, they’ve spent so much money, and two years ago we were playing in the National League.

“To go toe-to-toe with Chelsea tonight, you can understand what an effort that was from the lads and we could and should have won the game."

Click here to read more.

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David

A thousand apologies David, but all good things come to those who wait. Phil Parkinson is coming up next....

Wrexham certainly impressed against Chelsea at Levi's Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, adding to their 1-1 draw against Bournemouth on Saturday.

It is the Welsh club's second consecutive US pre-season tour, capitalising on their popularity under co-owners, Hollywood actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, with Phil Parkinson's side preparing for third tier football for the first time since 2005.

The match started in lively fashion with Levi Colwill and James McClean escaping red cards following an early bust up that was more akin to a competitive league or cup fixture than a pre-season game.

And Wrexham never took a backwards step from there on in.

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Allan

Glad you got a decent start to your big day Allan. Many happy returns. Shame about the late equaliser, but amazing how far Wrexham have come.

A final word from Enzo Maresca on Chelsea's goalkeeper situation.

The club have been linked with a potential move for Villarreal's 22-year-old Danish youth international Filip Jorgensen.

Maresca refused to discuss the transfer rumours but reiterated how important the goalkeeper is in the possession style of football he wants the Blues to play:

"What I can say is Robert [Sanchez] did very well tonight and did very well since we started. For sure, the way we want to play, the goalkeeper is very, very important - one of the main positions.

"And I don't want to talk about players that are not Chelsea players but I am very happy with Robert."

Maresca on whether the club want to add a new goalkeeper this window?: "We'll see, we'll see. In this moment we have four goalkeepers. [Dorde] Petrovic is still with us but injured. We will see with the timing. When the transfer window is open, anything can happen for us and for the rest."

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Chelsea

Enzo Maresca spoke about the need to see Chelsea's new identity and style in his post-match news conference, after watching his side give up a lead against League One Wrexham before Lesley Ugochukwa scored a late equaliser for the Blues:

"In this moment, we tried to build with three and two. First-half with [Reece] James inside and second-half with [Gusto] Malo inside. It does not matter about the level of the opposition; when they sit back with 11 players behind the ball, it's always difficult to find space and solutions are not easy.

"We tried first-half and second-half. For sure, we did many things we can improve but we started just two weeks ago. Tonight was important to start seeing the identity of the team and the identity is there tonight."

Maresca on what positives he can take: "I'm very happy about the performance in general. In this moment, we started just two weeks ago, it's important that us as the staff and the people can start to see the identity of the team. Tonight it was quite clear.

"For sure we are going to add more solutions. Analysing just the timing we started two weeks ago, I'm very happy."

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Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

Chelsea are very much beginning the Enzo Maresca era with an identikit approach to his Leicester City team, which won the Championship and promotion to the Premier League last season.

The approach was apparent in an open training session in front of select media this week as the club transition to a heavy possession-based style – which was unpopular with sections of Leicester’s fanbase.

The slow, patient and controlled approach was apparent in the 2-2 draw with Wrexham on Wednesday night.

The Italian saw his team build up with three defenders at the back, a full-back, namely captain Reece James, stepping into midfield and two of the three central midfielders playing high up the pitch to create an attacking front five.

In the first half, the approach worked well as James and Levi Colwill played in full-back positions and looked well-suited to Maresca’s demands.

However, Malo Gusto and Ben Chilwell struggled to replicate their success in the second half as the Blues made 10 changes at half-time.

There could well be winners and losers from Maresca’s approach as some adapt to an approach that is a far-cry from Mauricio Pochettino’s high-energy, adaptive and less demanding tactical approach.

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Wesley Fofana did not travel on Chelsea's pre-season tour of the United States last year after staying behind for medical assessments on a knee problem.

The worst was confirmed and he later underwent surgery on an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

The 23-year-old France centre-back's return to action against Wrexham was his first match in Chelsea colours since the final day of the 2022-23 season.

He managed just 20 appearances for Chelsea that season after making a £70m switch from Leicester in August 2022.

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