Key decisions in pre-season for Arsenal boss Arteta

It introduced Gabriel Jesus, William Saliba and Oleksandr Zinchenko to greatly improve the way the side played, eventually lifting them to a second-place finish in the Premier League.

As the Gunners embark on their latest pre-season journey, drawing 1-1 in a behind-closed-doors friendly with Watford, what are the key areas that Arteta needs to figure out before the real action kicks off against Manchester City in the Community Shield at Wembley on August 6?

The biggest unknown currently is who is going to replace Granit Xhaka in midfield. The Swiss midfielder was a reliable figure in the middle of the park last season, but Arsenal don’t have a clear-cut replacement style-wise to slot into that role.

New signing Kai Havertz, along with Euro U21 winner Emile Smith Rowe, Fabio Vieira, and several others all have a shot at occupying the position but all of which require an evolution of the system defensively, something we saw Arteta implement last season. 

It’s possible the club could bring in a player in a similar mould to Xhaka still, but the next month will be important for Arteta to figure out who’s best suited to start the Community Shield.

Deciding on the back-up forwards is another important area for Arteta to sort out in pre-season. 

Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are likely to remain the first-choice front three, but Leandro Trossard, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah, Folarin Balogun, and even Havertz and Smith Rowe are all in contention for rotation minutes in the front line.

Moving on from Nketiah or Balogun feels an obvious solution to trim the numbers down and raise some funds, although that still leaves Arteta with a surplus of options, which is a nice problem to have, in the forward areas.

Pre-season has also long been a proving ground for youth talent with the likes of Saka and Smith Rowe breaking through in recent years. 

Arteta will need to figure out which of the latest academy prospects are ready to make the step up with promising players including Amario Cozier-Duberry and Reuell Walters in contention.