The fixtures for the 2024/25 Premier League season will be revealed tomorrow, with clubs finding out their schedule ahead of the start of the campaign in August.
There is now less than two months before the new season begins, with Euro 2024 in full flow taking up at least a month of that, before players then have a short break before pre-season kicks in properly.
Arsenal have a number of players on international duty, with many hoping to go deep in both Euro 2024 and the Copa America. that could see them given extra time off to recover before returning to pre-season action.
The Gunners are heading out on tour to America ahead of the start of the Premier League and Mikel Arteta will be hoping to have everyone in his squad available for that, with none picking up injuries over the summer.
The Arsenal boss will also be hoping to have a few new names to choose from, as he looks to once again challenge Manchester City for the Premier League title. Sporting director Edu is expected to be busy in the summer transfer window and there have already been links with a number of high-profile signings.
Benjamin Sesko has already turned down a potential move to the Emirates Stadium, deciding instead to pen a new deal with RB Leipzig. But that has led to new links emerging.
Netherlands star Xavi Simons has been brought up as a potential signing for the forward line, with Arteta aiming to sign a versatile frontman rather than an out-and-out striker. Simons impressed for the Netherlands in their opening Euro 2024 match against Poland on Sunday afternoon.
Another player being linked will be taking to the field at Euro 2024 for the first time on Monday – Artem Dovbyk. The Ukrainian striker netted 24 goals and laid on eight assists in 36 matches for Girona in La Liga this season – an impressive return.
His ability to both score and provide is exactly what Arteta is looking for in the summer transfer window and he could be the perfect foil for Kai Havertz.
Simons will cost the Gunners in the region of £51million, while Dovbyk is likely to cost around £42million, meaning a £93million double deal for Edu to strike.
Whether both of them actually need to be signed this summer is another matter. It could very well be one or the other, or neither of course, if the club decide to go for options elsewhere.
But if they were to both be signed, it could give Bukayo Saka a much-needed rest at the start of the season, after a long 2023/24 campaign and then Euros with England. Simons could play off the right, in Saka’s role, with Dovbyk playing through the middle, supported by either Havertz on the left of Havertz in behind in a midfield three with Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice, with Gabriel Martinelli off the left.
Potential starting XI: Raya; White, Gabriel, Saliba, Tomiyasu; Rice, Odegaard, Havertz; Simons, Dovbyk, Martinelli.
