Mikel Arteta has defended his decision not to bring youngsters like Charlie Patino and Marcelo Flores to Arsenal. preseason tour and said he had to find the right ‘balance’ in the squad.
The Gunners flew to Baltimore on Thursday to take on rivals in the Premier League Everton on Saturday night in the first of three friendlies in the United States, with games against Orlando City and Chelsea follow.
But Arteta raised some eyebrows with his squad for the trip, bringing with him a large number of players loaned out last season, as well as five goalkeepers.
Aaron RamsdaleMatt Turner, Arthur Okonkwo, Alex Runarsson and Bernd Leno – who is the subject of a bid from Fulham – all made the cut, but a number of youngsters stayed away.
Arteta has now explained his thinking by saying that he has tried to balance the involvement of the players from the club’s academy throughout the preseason – not just this one trip.
When asked if it was difficult to leave out Patino and Flores, the Arsenal boss replied: ‘Yes, but it was impossible. [to bring them].
‘So we have Reuell [Walters] here we have Flo [Folarin Balogun] also and we have tried to balance. But we also had a lot of young players in Germany. So I think we have the right balance.’
Patino came off the bench earlier this month in Arsenal’s 5-3 win over Nuremberg in Germany, while Salah Oulad M’Hand and new signing Marquinhos were also involved, although Flores remained in the UK.
There are suggestions that the Mexican attacker is unhappy with his lack of involvement so far with the first team in pre-season, as he had expected to tour the US after Arsenal blocked him from making contact with his country’s Under-20 squad.
The inclusion of players like Hector Bellerin, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Pablo Mari and Reiss Nelson was also a surprise as they were all loaned out last season and have left permanently this summer.
But Arteta has opened the door for those players who will return to the first team at Arsenal next season and will give them a chance to impress in the United States.
He continued: “The message is this is another season and everyone is off to a clean start.
“Show us what you can do on the field, how you are going to behave with your teammates, are you going to make the car faster: yes or no? If you do, you have a chance to be here.”
On the possibility of making further purchases, Arteta added: “We still hope to improve the team and make a few more changes. But again, the market determines our ability to do this.”
LAKE : Arsenal agree £30m deal to sign Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City
LAKE : Arsenal star Marcelo Flores was annoyed at being excluded from the pre-season tour roster
For more stories like this, check our sports page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news about
facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
