What Mikel Arteta did when Josh Kroenke arrived at Arsenal pre-season training

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta welcomed director Josh Kroenke to training during their pre-season tour of the United States.

A report from The Athletic has shared how the Spanish coach reacted when he arrived on the touchline.

Arsenal’s preparations for the upcoming Premier League season have almost come to an end.

They play Monaco in the Emirates Cup tomorrow before facing Manchester City at Wembley in the Community Shield.

The majority of Arsenal’s preparations have been done in the USA, with all three new signings being integrated quickly into the team.

Mikel Arteta gave plenty of his senior players the opportunity to build up their fitness while making slight tweaks to last season’s successful set-up.

They were based at GMU Field House in Virginia for their training and were paid a visit by the club’s American owners.

Arteta and his players had their training overseen by Josh Kroenke during their time there and he appeared pleased with how things were going.

However, the real test will be when they take to the pitch on Sunday as they face last season’s title rivals Manchester City.

Kroenke visits Arsenal and Arteta in pre-season training

The report from The Athletic states that Kroenke arrived on the second day of pre-season to observe training.

While he was there, new signings Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber were excused from the final drill of the session.

They then chatted to the Arsenal director who would have welcomed them all to the club.

All three new additions will be under pressure to hit the ground running at the Emirates.

Declan Rice especially, given his club-record fee, will be hoping to pay that back quickly.

He’s already been told he needs to speed up his game and playing in the Champions League will emphasise that need.

It would be a surprise if Rice didn’t start on the opening day of the season, while Timber and Havertz face more competition to get into the team.

Kroenke will hope the training they have done under Arteta immediately pays off this season.

Going one better than last year has to be the aim at the Emirates, but it won’t be easy.