'My choice' - Mikel Arteta names Arsenal transfer wish after Riccardo Calafiori question

Arsenal are now just over a day away from kicking off their USA tour against Premier League rivals AFC Bournemouth. The Gunners open up their tour at the Dignity Sports Health Park in Los Angeles on Wednesday night (US time), and they will travel across country to Philadelphia over the course of the coming week.

Mikel Arteta’s men are now stepping up their preparations for the new season with a more congested fixture schedule which will see the players get used to regular game minutes again. In the meantime, Edu, Arteta and the club’s recruitment chiefs will continue to work on new deals in a bid to bolster the squad and go one better in the Premier League title race this season

Asked in his US press conference whether he would like to get new signings in as soon as possible, Arteta replied: “Yeah from day one, I’d have everyone. That would be my choice!” He added on whether new signings could join the squad Stateside, he added: I don’t know. There’s still a lot to go in the window. Edu, the board and everyone at the club are working hard.”

Reporters also tried to lure the Spaniard into issuing a transfer update amid ongoing negotiations with Bologna over Riccardo Calafiori, but he would not be drawn. “No unfortunately not, but we know there are certain positions that we want to improve and give the squad better resources, especially in terms of numbers where we are very short,” he added. “We will try our best but the main thing is to focus on falling in love with the players we have and make them better.”

The coming week or so will be crucial for Arsenal’s preparations, with players needing to get back into gear ahead of next month’s big kick-off. “They’re really good (games) because we’re going to play on three different surfaces, three different stadiums, and different weather conditions,” Arteta said. “The travelling is different and different opposition, so great it’s preparation for us.

“(I hope) That we keep up the standards that we require at every level. Physically, there are huge improvements to make and team cohesion is the same. Also, evolving in our culture, and earning the right to win games and playing better each time. The opposition are going be really tough and the goal is to win the games.”

Arteta also spoke about the preparations as a whole, with the team having trained in Spain and in North London before flying to the United States. He continued: “It’s been very positive since day one. We started at Marbella for two weeks and then we had a week off. When the players arrived back at the Sobha Realty Training Centre they were at it straight away. It’s not a surprise because they’re a joy of a team to work with - even today, straight away with jet lag and high temperatures, they train at the same intensity.”

Arsenal remain without some of their Euro 2024 players, some of which will join them later this week, while those who reached the semi-finals and final will not link up for pre-season until after the USA tour is completed.