Mikel Arteta primes Arsenal in USA after ‘tough moment’ for Saka and Rice

There was no one prouder than Mikel Arteta when Bukayo Saka banished the demons of his penalty miss in the final of the European Championship three years ago by burying his spot-kick against Switzerland at Euro 2024. “I was very nervous,” the Arsenal manager said of the moment Saka stepped up in England’s quarter-final penalty shootout victory. “It plays back in your mind from a few years ago and that moment but he showed a lot of guts and determination and composure to take it the way he did.”

But after the disappointment for England of losing another final it was intriguing to hear Arteta mention the potential psychological impact on Saka and Arsenal’s other England regular, Declan Rice. “I’m extremely proud of my country, and it was a great moment for us to win,” the Spaniard said. “This generation had to really earn it in the last few years to get that belief. At the same time, I was sad because you love your players and you want the best for them, and it was a tough moment for them.”

How to deal with setbacks after finishing as runners up to Manchester City for the second successive campaign has become perhaps the key question for Arteta as he attempts to make it third time lucky in the Premier League next season. While Saka, Rice and a host of other first-team regulars who were in action at either the Euros or Copa América are enjoying some well-earned and desperately needed recuperation on holiday, the hard work has been under way for the rest of Arsenal’s squad over the past few weeks.

Their meeting with Bournemouth in Los Angeles in the early hours of Thursday UK time will be the next stage of a pre-season that began with a training camp in Marbella in the last week of June with initially only six players – Ben White, Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe, Fábio Vieira, Jurriën Timber and Reiss Nelson. The squad that flew out to the United States on Sunday for a three-match tour that includes games against Manchester United at the Arsenal owner, Stan Kroenke’s, $5bn SoFi Stadium in LA and Liverpool in Philadelphia also contains a host of academy hopefuls hoping to follow in Saka’s footsteps, including the 18-year-old England youth goalkeeper Tommy Setford – who just joined from Ajax for £1m.

The absence of David Raya and Aaron Ramsdale means the 22-year-old Estonian Karl Hein is the most experienced goalkeeper on the tour, with the academy teenagers Lucas Nygaard – also signed this summer – and Alexei Rojas in support.

To the surprise of many Arsenal supporters perhaps expecting more attacking reinforcements, it is in defence that Arteta appears to be most keen to tinker. The imminent arrival of Riccardo Calafiori from Bologna will mean there are eight internationals fighting it out for a place in Arsenal’s back four – White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Timber, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jakub Kiwior and Takehiro Tomiyasu, whose knee injury sustained just before the squad departed for the US makes him a major doubt for the start of the season. “It’s unbelievable,” said Arteta. “It happened this week. The kid works so hard but he had an incident in training. We don’t know the extent yet but we kept him there for precaution and we’ll see what happens.”

The decision to press ahead with the signing of Calafiori, outstanding as a centre-back for Italy at Euro 2024 and Bologna in Serie A last season, hints at a slightly different approach despite Arsenal ending last season with the Premier League’s best defensive record, conceding 29 to City’s 34. The versatile 22-year-old is expected to operate mainly at left-back to try to solve Arsenal’s tendency to favour attacking down their stronger right flank through Saka and White’s thriving partnership.

Timber – the Netherlands defender who missed almost all of last season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury after joining from Ajax – is another option on either flank and could also be used in central midfield . “It’s good to be versatile, just to play more positions,” said Timber. “You’re also able to get more minutes then, I think, and the coach can put you in more places. I think it’s nice for him as well. And I’m just hoping to play anywhere.”

The futures of Zinchenko, Kiwior, Smith Rowe, Nelson and Nketiah – who is wanted by Roberto De Zerbi at Marseille – remain in doubt despite their presence on the tour, although Arteta is unlikely to allow all of them to depart given his preference for a deep squad with players capable of fulfilling a number of different roles. Kai Havertz was signed primarily to replace Granit Xhaka in midfield but ended up contributing 15 goals and assists in the run in when moved forward to lead the line, and Rice was outstanding in a more advanced position when Jorginho or Thomas Partey played the holding role.

A move for Spain’s Mikel Merino remains a strong possibility, with the Real Sociedad midfielder thought to be available for about £30m. Yet Arteta stressed that after the journey he and his young squad have been on over the past few years, it was more important to concentrate on what they can control.

“Perfection in this league requires different standards when you relate that word to winning the Premier League and that is what we have to do,” he said. “There is still a lot of time left in the window and while that is more a question for the board, obviously we know there are certain positions that we want to improve and give the squad better resources in terms of numbers but the main thing is to focus on falling in love with the players we have.”