Mikel Arteta hails ‘unbelievable’ Riccardo Calafiori after first outing and provides an injury update on TWO defenders as the Gunners cap off their preparations with victory over Lyon
- Arsenal concluded their pre-season with a win over Lyon at the Emirates Stadium
- Goals from William Saliba and Gabriel secured a 2-0 victory for the Gunners
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Arsenal’s final pre-season match produced another victory, as well as a first look at their promising £42m signing, Riccardo Calafiori.
The Italian was given a warm welcome by the Emirates crowd and the 22-year-old played a positive role for 26 minutes, including a number of shots forward and a great sprint back on the counter-attack, deterring a Lyon attacker, helped by a save from David Raya.
Manager Mikel Arteta was full of praise for the crowd and for the Italian, who arrived from Bologna at the end of July and is so far the only summer signing for the North London club.
“I love it when the fans react like that to one of you,” Arteta said. “The way you feel it straight away, it’s love, you’re respected, they’re behind you. And that’s an incredible platform for someone to join our club.
‘He is very versatile, because he can play in two or three different positions. Especially in attack he can occupy different spaces, because he is a real defender.
Arsenal’s final pre-season match produced another victory, and also a first look at their exciting £42million signing Riccardo Calafiori
William Saliba and Gabriel scored from set pieces to give the Gunners a 2-0 win
Mikel Arteta was full of praise for his team’s ‘exceptional’ performance against the Ligue 1 club
“When you see his pressure and physical strength, how he goes into duels, it’s incredible. He did a lot last year, he’s a player who can improve us.”
Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice made their first starts in pre-season and both produced the set-pieces that their opponents struggled with last season.
Rice, who struggled to keep up the pace in Wednesday’s win over Bayer Leverkusen, looked sharp and ready to play. His passing was sharp and progressive and he also made a number of good tackles.
And to top it off, two of his well-executed corners — which were spot on — resulted in goals. “I think overall it’s been a positive pre-season,” Arteta said.
“It was a success, and the two games we had here (at the Emirates) were very competitive. The team was exceptional, especially in the first half, we played at the highest level.
Calafiori was brought on as a substitute in the second half after joining from Bologna
Arteta revealed that Jurrien Timber is expected to return to full training in the coming days after a long period out due to injury
“We held on and fell back a bit in the second half. The conditions were tough, but also good. So all in all, very satisfied.”
Arteta confirmed that versatile defender Jurrien Timber is expected to return to training soon after overcoming a foot problem, but it will be ‘weeks’ before defender Takehiro Tomiyasu can play again.
