Arsenal

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has spoken about the signing of Martin Zubimendi, who joined from Real Sociedad for £60m.

It was a transfer that took a while to finalise, with Arsenal first linked with the midfielder earlier this year.

Arteta said: "It was a long process and he had a lot of opportunities to decide about whether he wanted to come.

"The good news is that this club is amazing and everyone wants to come to it. He left some very good opportunities to come to us.

"We are all very impressed about what we have seen over the last seven to 10 days. Because once you have the player daily you see his character, his personality and how much he is going to bring to the team. Very excited about it."

Image source, Getty Images

Craig Nelson
BBC Sport reporter

The elephant in the room here is obviously key striker target Viktor Gyokeres.

When asked about the Sporting number nine, Mikel Arteta said that he "cannot comment on any player who is not part of our group yet", with the onus on the word yet.

Arsenal

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta on whether the aim was to get all business done before the pre-season tour: "Ideally, you want it from day one in pre-season. I think we have done very well so far, I'm very pleased with how the club has supported the necessities and improvements that we required in the team.

"I think Andrea [Berta] and the team have done an excellent job as well, trying to push everything forward. There's a long time to go in the window, but we have still our hopes we can improve the team and we will continue to try and do that."

On whether the club are behind or ahead of schedule with incomings: "I'm very pleased, that's all I'll say. There are a lot of parties and things that we have to bear in mind to get a player over the line and here. I'm very hopeful that we are going to do it very soon."

Image source, Getty Images

Arsenal will face Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United, plus Serie A side AC Milan during their pre-season tour of Asia.

As shown in the last post, the Gunners have taken a 30-man squad with them for the two-week visit, which includes new signings Kepa Arrizabalaga, Martin Zubimendi and Christian Norgaard, but not Noni Madueke.

All games kick-off at 12:30 BST.

• AC Milan (Wednesday, 23 July)
• Newcastle United (Sunday, 27 July)
• Tottenham Hotspur (Thursday, 31 July)

Arsenal

Goalkeepers

• David Raya
• Kepa Arrizabalaga
• Tommy Setford
• Alexei Rojas-Fedorushchenko

Defenders

• William Saliba
• Ben White
• Gabriel Magalhaes
• Jurrien Timber
• Jakub Kiwior
• Oleksandr Zinchenko
• Riccardo Calafiori
• Myles Lewis-Skelly
• Josh Nichols
• Marli Salmon

Midfielders

• Martin Odegaard
• Christian Norgaard
• Mikel Merino
• Sambi Lokonga
• Martin Zubimendi
• Declan Rice
• Louie Copley

Forwards

• Bukayo Saka
• Gabriel Martinelli
• Leandro Trossard
• Ethan Nwaneri
• Reiss Nelson
• Kai Havertz
• Ismeal Kabia
• Max Dowman
• Andre Harriman-Annous

Arsenal

It's been a busy window for Arsenal, who've already managed to bring in both quality and depth:

• Kepa Arrizabalaga - from Chelsea - £5m
• Martin Zubimendi - from Real Sociedad - £60m
• Christian Norgaard - from Brentford - £10m (£5m)
• Noni Madueke - from Chelsea - £48.5m

And with the expected arrival of Viktor Gyokeres, it's hard to argue anything other than 'Arsenal have strengthened'.

Arteta was asked whether any more incomings can be expected.

He said: "There’s still a long time in the window and we are seeking still, in terms of numbers - we are short and we have to improve the depth and quality of the squad.

"We are constantly looking in the market. Until that happens, focus on the players we have and focus on them and I’m very pleased with what I have seen in the last 10-15 days."

Arsenal

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta on whether it has been a stressful summer: "Exciting. You see the club ownership and ambition we have, the alignment we have everybody, in the board and with everybody connected with Andrea [Berta - Sporting Director].

"There is an excitement about the new season. Super positive about it."

Image source, Getty Images

Craig Nelson
BBC Sport reporter

Right, we will return to the weekend's pre-season friendlies with a bit of a round-up later on.

But I mentioned earlier that we had more news from the Arsenal training camp in Singapore.

We are going to hear more from manager Mikel Arteta next...

Image source, Getty Images

Speaking after the goalless draw with Monaco, Nottingham Forest defender Ola Aina said that Morgan Gibbs-White, who was taken off at half-time, was "keeping it professional".

He told Sky Sports: "Morgan is a professional. I don't really know the ins and outs of that, but he was here today, he was playing, training with us, staying fit as normal.

"At the end of the day we're all professionals. We've got a job to do and that's what Morgan's doing right now, keeping it professional."

Image source, Getty Images

Morgan Gibbs-White, meanwhile, played for Nottingham Forest in their opening pre-season friendly amid the ongoing uncertainty surrounding his future following Tottenham's approach.

Fans chanted the England midfielder's name as he left the pitch at the end of the first half, with the 25-year-old responding with a heart gesture.

Forest are considering legal action over Tottenham's interest, looking at whether a specific confidentiality agreement in Gibbs-White's £60m release clause has been breached.

Image source, Getty Images

One player who definitely will not be lighting up the Premier League next season is Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford.

Manager Daniel Farke did not shy away from explaining why the 31-year-old forward was not included in Leeds' squad for Saturday's goalless draw against Manchester United in Sweden.

"In the second day of pre-season, I got him into my office and told him he is not in my plans for the upcoming season," said Farke, who added that Bamford would be training with the under-21s and would not join the club's pre-season camp in Germany next week.

The Leeds boss cited Bamford's recent injury problems as the reason why he would not be included in the club's first-team squad for their return to the Premier League.

"I had a really open and honest conversation with Patrick, which was important," he added. "He knows how much I rate him as a player and I would have preferred a fit Patrick Bamford for the last two seasons."

Newcastle United face Arsenal in their next pre-season game on Sunday, 27 July, in Singapore (12:30 BST).

On whether Alexander Isak will be part of the tour, boss Eddie Howe said: "Yeah, absolutely. He's part of our squad. At this moment in time, I expect him to come."

Image source, Getty Images

Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe was asked about the absence of striker Alexander Isak from the squad that lost 4-0 at Celtic on Saturday.

The Magpies boss said that he chose to leave Isak at home following reports linking him with a move to Liverpool, but added that he was "confident" the Sweden striker would be at the club at the start of the season.

He added: "I think it's difficult for me to give 100% clarity on any player. I'd never sit here and do that because it's football and you never know what can happen.

"But Alex is happy at Newcastle. He loves the players he plays with, the staff, the team and I've never had any issue with him."

Craig Nelson
BBC Sport reporter

Pre-season games started in earnest over the weekend, meaning the media had the chance to question a number of Premier League managers about their summer transfer dealings.

Coming up are some of the top lines from those post-match news conferences...

Evan Ferguson was pictured on social media, external meeting Roma fans and signing autographs in advance of his loan move to the Serie A side.

Brighton's 20-year-old Republic of Ireland striker was nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award following a stellar 2022-23 campaign, when he scored nine goals and made his senior international bow.

However, he has scored just one goal at club level since November 2023 and was unlikely to play a significant role under Fabien Hurzeler at the start of the current campaign.