Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has named two Super Eagles hopefuls in the 26-man squad traveling with the Gunners to the United States for their preseason tour.
The Premier League’s youngest debutant, Ethan Nwaneri, as well as quad-national defender Josh Nicols, who recently signed a professional contract with the club, were included in Arteta’s preseason squad in an attempt to compensate for the absence of several experienced players.
Since the commencement of pre-season preparations last week, the two have been training with the first team, and they participated in yesterday’s friendly played behind closed doors at the Sobha Realty Training Center versus Leyton Orient.
The injury to Takehiro Tomiyasu and the unavailability of defenders Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba could give Nichols, who can play at both fullback positions, more playing time for the Gunners in their next friendlies.
Nwaneri should be able to accrue some playing time as well. He will want to impress Arteta in order to obtain additional first team opportunities in the upcoming season.
Arsenal’s preseason schedule
Arsenal have two highly anticipated matches scheduled for their US Tour: on July 28 at Lincoln Financial Field against Manchester United and on August 1 at SoFi Stadium against Liverpool.
They will wrap up their preseason with a clash against Lyon at the Emirates Stadium before kick-starting their Premier League campaign on August 17 against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
