And so it begins.
The 2025-26 Premier League Champions travel to Catalonia this weekend to take on Girona FC at the Estadi Montilivi in our first preseason match, and our only away match before we go to Birmingham to face Villa in the league on the last day of August.
Girona
By the time Girona Futbol Club rose from the ashes of Unió Deportiva Girona in 1930 they’d spent most of their time in the lower reaches of non-professional football in Spain. While they rose to the Secunda División in 1935-36, they narrowly missed promotion that season. The Spanish Civil War interrupted all of Spanish football, and it would be another 81 years before they could manage to crack the ceiling and win promotion to Spain’s top flight.
Their 2017 promotion brought them to the attention of the City Football Group (the multi-armed kraken that owns Manchester City, NYCFC, Troyes, and Palermo, among others), who purchased 44% (now 47%) of the club and invested substantially in their training facilities. Success was not instant. After two years in La Liga Girona was relegated in 2019, leading to three years in the Nah Liga wilderness. Promotion in 2022 brought improvement each year in La Liga; finishing 3rd in 2024 earning automatic qualification to the Champions League in 2024-25. Our preseason match is the second Arsenal have played at the Estadi Montilivi; our first was in the Champions League league phase, in January, 2025, where we came from behind and ran out 2-1 winners on goals from Jorghino and Nwaneri. With only 3 points from 8 games, including losses to PSG, Liverpool, and AC Milan, Girona finshed 33d of the 36 teams.
And so, despite the heightened level of investment the Blanquivermells are coming off a year that ended in even more disappointment. After four years in La Liga, and sixteen months after they last played Champions League football, they were relegated by drawing Elche in the last game of the season (Girona would have stayed up had they won).
While players like Marc-André ter Stegen (whose loan from Barcelona ended), Vitor Reis, Claudio Echeverri, Hugo Rincon, and Thomas Lemar have all departed Girona this Summer, there are some players whom are recognizable: Donny van de Beek, Bryan Gil, Paulo Gazzaniga, and Alex Moreno all have Premier League experience. Others were involved in that league phase game, including 3/4 of their defense, and 2/3 of their forward players. Notable among them is ex-Barcelona Spanish international Abel Ruiz, who we can expect to lead the line on Saturday.
Arsenal
While it is just one game, it looks like we’re taking a rather thin squad on the trip, with only 5 first-team defenders, including those who are recovering from injury (White, Timber); Saliba and Gabriel are either too injured or too fatigued to make this trip. New signings Meslier and Tzolis are on the plane, as are loan returnees Nelson and Vieira. Gyökeres, Havertz, Martinelli, and Hincapié have made it to Spain upon their return from the World Cup, whereas Saka, Rice, Eze, Madueke, Raya, Merino, Zubimendi, and Ødegaard are still in recovery after their exertions in the Americas.
Fortunately, Arteta decided to fill the emergency raft with 11 of our up-and-coming youth, including Dowman, Salmon, Harriman-Annous, Kabia, and Ibrahim, all of whom have made their first team debuts. Besides Salmon, any of Clarke, Ogunnaike, or even Julienne can play at various positions in our back line. O’Neill, Ranson, and Augustien can play in midfield or up front.
So what will our lineup be? Impossible to say, especially since there will probably be wholesale changes at halftime. Nonetheless I hope we won’t see any of White or Timber, which would leave us to start the game with something like the following:
Kepa
Salmon – Mosquera – Calafiori – Hincapié
MLS – Nwaneri – Vieira
Dowman – Gyökeres – Tzolis
Whom Arteta mixes and matches after that (assuming those wholesale changes) is hard to say. We should certainly see a debut for Meslier (sorry Setford, you’re hard done by), and perhaps some final Arsenal playing time for Nelson, Jesus, and Nørgaard. I’d like to see how Harriman-Annous is coming along, and both Kabia and Ibrahim showed promise last season…let’s hope they can use this preseason to push their way into Arteta’s plans for the coming year.
The ‘Holics Pound
Kind of silly, right? I think, if I had to, and without knowing the odds, I’d put a punt on Dowman to score, and maybe parlay that with a goal from Gyökeres, maybe even on an assist from Tzolis. I just hope we get a good run-out, a good look at the young’uns, some shop window time for our probably departees, and no injuries. After all, isn’t that the point of this type of exercise at this stage of the (pre)season?
COYG!
Is it that time already? Really?
Nice intro to the coming season, scruz. Your team looks possible as a starter and we’re certain to have substitutions aplenty. Your final two sentences summarise the situation nicely.
Is the match being broadcast?
BtM – no doubt on dodgy streams. Or you can still buy a pass for Arsenal player for £9.99 which encompasses all 4 pre- match friendlies. I’ve done that. Hopefully they’ll have Adrian Clarke on co- comms.
Now, off to read the blog….
Nice intro to the season, scruz. I hope the game is a nice gentle run out for the lads.
Now, who is going to pick up the pre-season baton from scruz?
Nice work, Scruz.
Regarding Girona’s new signings, of course Brian Gil was yet another poor purchase by the mob down the road. I always thought he looked like a young Al Pacino. Unfortunately he played a lot like I imagine Pacino did, too, with a level of physicality which makes Fabio Vieira look like the Incredible Hulk. I think Gazzaniga too is another who has sought asylum from the N17 asylum.
Gabriel and Martinelli returned to training and are out in Spain, but I doubt will feature. I would expect Jesus to make an appearance, as a means of putting him in the shop window. I would hope to see Kabia play. I’ve seen him a couple of times and he can do a job on the wing. I’m afraid I’m not a fan of Brayden Clarke, nor for that matter of Harriman-Annous, in terms of their ability to make the first team, although they’re obviously good players. Ibrahim I like, and there are some of his actions which remind me of a rather better Vieira than the one mentioned above. I’d like to see him get on. Julienne is something of a Swiss Army knife of a player. I watched a decent amount of U-21s last season. Overall it should be an interesting rather than absorbing game.
I’ll take the Girona report, Bath. If only to prove how wildly inaccurate my comments above will be.
Cheers CER @5. I hope Arsenal.com’s streaming works.
Thanks scruz, nice rundown on Girona and their rapid fall from grace and also our own options for the game. If it is anything like last week then most of the team will change at half- time and everyone should get a run-out.
Thanks Scruz
I don’t usually watch preseason friendlies. The World Cup has made a mockery of our planning so I hope some tyros get a chance to show their worth
It’s hard to know what Arteta will learn from this but I guess we have to play it ?
Good going, Scruz. You’ve got our pre-season going nicely, and the switch of focus from the tawdry doings of the game’s governors to actual Arsenal football is a much-needed purgative.
Here’s hoping our youngsters give a good account of themselves. Like CER, I like the look of Ibrahim and Kaliba, but disagree with him on Harriman-Annous. There is a potential PL striker there, if, probably, not with us.
CER@2: Checking the club site this morning, the four-game pass is being offered at £14.99. Dynamic or geo-targeted pricing in effect?
Thanks Scruz, first on the treadmill now in retirement …..
I think you’ve absolutely nailed the starting XI 🤣🤣
Apparently dot com are only selling passes for games that are streamable in one’s own country of residence. Last season – or whenever we last played there – Spain was off limits to the UK.
Will somebody who has the power please just make watching football easier. Who honestly gives a monkey’s about protecting the rights of a pre-season friendly between Girona and Arsenal Reserves …?
I really hope Ethan and MLS have a good pre-season and that we keep them. I’d forgotten about The Other Vieira! Shop window for him? It sounds like the Bruno G transfer will happen. We might have an uneven start until we get everyone back and 100% after the WC.
I’m glad we won the league last year because I think this season might be tough for several reasons: injuries, fatigue, a target on our backs, other teams have improved (but so many new managers), the sheer # of games. I hope Mikel can rotate the team more than last year and we play with a little more freedom.
On a side note, Mikel is now the longest serving manager in the league.
Ned @10, it’s not geo-targeted pricing. When it was launched last week at £9.99, it was announced that that was the ‘early bird price’ and would increase today.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7484629/2026/08/01/vinicius-junior-arsenal-transfer-latest-real-madrid-contract/?source=user_shared_article&smid=ta-ios-share
The Athletic’s update on what might be the most important transfer in Premier league history
Apparently Declan had asked to come back a week earlier to get fit ! That’s the sort of appetite you want to see !
I sense a lot of gloom and uncertainty around the Goonerverse after a great title triumph , the imminent capture of Bruno and maybe Vini Jr. I can tell you if we get those two the rest of Europe let alone the league will be quaking in their boots .
But I think Ethan will go
TTG @15, I have a few thoughts about the origins of the prevailing gloom and uncertainty in the Goonerverse. Firstly, Matt’s accurate observation in the last Drinks, on reading Alan Shearer’s comments on being a Newcastle fan, that Arsenal fans are somewhat entitled in comparison. Secondly, those of us who have been around for a while are scarred by our transfer dealing history, littered with casualties like Benzema, Higuain, Mbappe, Griezman and others, which inevitably makes us sceptical about rumours of bids for high profile targets.
We are victims of our own history. Unquestionably our squad only needs a couple of high quality additions and such players are few in number and difficult to extricate from existing clubs. For the time being, we must have patience, remain hopeful and, as Seneca would advise, be prepared for disappointment.
Ned@10- aah, I think the Early Bird deal I bought on must have expired. Sorry to misinform.
Bath@16- My experience of Newcastle fans up there season before last is that they were very entitled indeed. Along with utterly delusional. One Two Bob Cup does not a Big Club make. The point you make about our transfer disappointments resonates with me. Although perhaps with the kind of owners we have now, that will be somewhat less clangorous starting this pre-season.
Thanks Scruz for starting the new season with a fulsome preview. Hopefully a nice gentle wa4m up for those who are available and a good opportunity for dome of the youths to show themselves to the wider public.
Even typing my name not yet fully up to speed 😄
Norgaard is on his way to Everton for £7million with a shiny league championship medal in his kitbag and two runners up medals for the Champions League and Carabao . . We never really got to see what he could offer but one sensed from comments that he was well respected in the dressing room . I wish him well.
As ever , having bought him for £10 million last year we are still selling very cheaply but we will save a significant amount in wages .
An interesting thing about the Bruno transfer is the seeming unwillingness of the local media to acknowledge what is happening . There is nowadays a race to be seen as the ITK of the moment but it’s a transfer that appears close and the Newcastle Chronicle is in denial !
ESPN Brasil is reporting that the two clubs have reached a deal for Bruno G — £70m up front, plus £10m in add-ons.
https://www.espn.com.br/futebol/arsenal/artigo/_/id/17067190/arsenal-fecha-contratacao-bruno-guimaraes-por-quase-550-milhoes (in Portuguese)
Bath & CER: Thanks for the heads-up on early birds.
It appears according to the Times that Guimaraes is done and he will have a medical on Monday .It appears to be £70 million with £10 million add ons
First trophy of the season in the bag with a 4-1 canter.
Nice work by Max, Marley and Christos amongst others.
Mr Tzolis will bag a few goals this season if he can regularly repeat that skidder into the far corner. His short backlift doesn’t give a defender any time to set a block.
Intriguing developments in the East End. Amanda Staveley, who fronted the Saudi acquisition of Newcastle, is buying the Gold family’s 25% stake in West Ham. She is again being backed by PCP Capital Partners, the Abu Dhabi private equity investors who sold their stake in Geordie Arabia at the same time she left ‘Toon in 2024.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/general/vanessa-gold-agrees-to-sell-west-ham-stake-to-consortium-led-by-amanda-staveley/ar-AA29cBVm
The news seems to have put the nose of Daniel Kretinsky, who own 27% of Wet Spam, out of joint. This could get rather jollily messy, especially as David Sullivan, the largest shareholder with 38.8%, is under the cloud of allegations of sexually exploitative and predatory behaviour.
Best of luck to Norgaard, agree with TTG on not seeing the
best of him but inassume he didn’t fit somehow although
MA spoke highly of his attitude. 7m seems ok given he is a
year older and hasn’t done anything much in the last year.
A clarification….
i may in the past seemed to have implied Guimaraes was a no good
cheating little prick, I was of course completely misquoted. Great player
and capital fellow
glad everyone enjoyed the season’s first preview. i hope to write my share of articles again now that i’m retired (yay!).
i rather enjoyed watching today. our first team, if dowman and tzolis are on the wings, will be perhaps more prolific with goals. mls and nwaneri were steady, and i thought our initial defense was solid. i am very surprised white started; glad that he is that far along in his recovery, for sure. kudos to salmon as well.
once we put the kiddies in and took off jesus, it seems meslier was our oldest player, nelson also being an oldie. and we still played well, though mistakes crept in. ibrahim looked the part, as did copely and ogunnaike.
well-played, lads.
scruz, didn’t realize you’d joined the club mate, happy retirement🎉
And thanks for the good news on Ben Whte, great to see him back
and presumably ready to go for the Coventry game.
cheers matt, yeah, a month ago!
It’s fun, apart from the getting older part 😂
Cheers scruz. Like many others, Arsenal.com and app didn’t work for me yesterday, despite having paid to watch the game. It finally came good in the 58th minute. After the 60th minute subs, we had Meslier, Salmon, Nelson and Jesus on the pitch, with academy players. So, I didn’t see Tzolis or any members of our first team squad. Calafiori and Dowman looked healthy walking off the pitch though!
Arsenal’s video services are unbelievably bad. They have been for years but they are incapable of solving the problems. It really is not good enough. Embarrassing all round.
But the match seemed to go well enough, and the team won’t care about website issues, so it’s a good start and hopefully I’ll get to watch the next one.
UTA!
Big thanks to TTG for the last piece too. I got to it late, bit it was an excellent read. Cheers!
@29, Matt, you’re further along in your assessment recovery than I am, I’m still at Step 3 ‘Resolving and healing the reasons for his being a no good cheating little prick……..’
@26, Ned, this was foreseen and predicted by my Finnish/Greek sage who knows his Tzolis onions no matter how they’re sliced, diced or sautéed.
BtM and Matt. With reference to Bruno Guimaraes. Yes he is a cheating little prick whom I have reviled whilst he is in a Newcastle shirt . But he will shortly be OUR cheating little prick, playing in red and white, and I will sing his name and cheer him on with gusto. I hope this is now clear.
Thank you for your attention to this matter!
>>>>>>>>>>>>