Arsenal’s pre-season has already become a test of where Ethan Nwaneri, Ben White and Viktor Gyokeres sit in Mikel Arteta’s thinking. The first official fixture is on August 1 against Girona, but the opening days have been about something more immediate, who can force their way up the pecking order before the games start to count.

Nwaneri’s future is still open

Andy Brassell put the Nwaneri question bluntly on talkSPORT: "What do they do with Ethan Nwaneri? Do they bring him back? Do they send him out on loan again and hope he plays more than he did at Marseille, or do they decide to cash in and sell him?"

That is a fair reading of where things stand. Nwaneri was compared to Jude Bellingham and Lamine Yamal a year earlier, but the Marseille spell did not settle the argument around his long-term place. Arsenal’s 3-0 behind-closed-doors win over MK Dons, with Nwaneri among the scorers alongside Reiss Nelson and Ceadach O'Neill, at least gave him a visible way to answer that noise on the pitch.

Christos Tzolis also made his debut and assisted Nelson’s goal in the 10th minute, a small early sign that this part of pre-season is already being used to sort out roles rather than just fitness.

White and the fight for trust

White’s situation is different, but just as relevant. He missed 42 matches across the past two seasons, with eight injuries contributing to that total, so pre-season is not just about sharpness. It is about showing Arteta that his body can hold up long enough to keep the right-back spot under real pressure.

Arsenal have also confirmed William Saliba will be out for an extended period with a back injury, which opens more room for movement at the back and gives White a clearer route to minutes. The club’s five-game winning run at the end of last season suggests the overall level is still high, so nobody in this squad gets the luxury of drifting through July.

Gyokeres sits in a slightly different lane, with competition for places already part of the picture rather than a finished verdict. That is the point of this opening stretch for Arsenal: it is not a pre-season of empty run-outs. It is a chance to see which players can change their position before Girona arrive.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →