Arsenal's Key Players Return for Community Shield Against Manchester City

Mikel Arteta will have Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka back at his disposal when Arsenal face Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday, with the Gunners’ core slowly reforming in time for the season’s first real examination.

The pair have returned to full training after extended breaks following England’s run to the World Cup semi-finals in North America and are in contention to feature in Cardiff, where the Premier League champions meet the FA Cup holders in the traditional curtain-raiser.

Rice is not the only midfielder rejoining the fold. Martin Zubimendi, fresh from lifting the World Cup with Spain last month, is also back with the squad and ready to be involved.

“They will be available,” Arteta said of Rice, Saka and Zubimendi at his pre-match press conference on Friday. “They trained with us today, they will train tomorrow. If they are in the condition we expect them to be, they will be involved.”

Saka had originally been scheduled to report back on Monday, but he and Spain goalkeeper David Raya cut their holidays short and returned on Saturday, a timely boost as Arsenal sharpen their edge before facing a City side now led by Enzo Maresca.

Arteta’s options have swelled quickly. Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke and Mikel Merino are all back from post-World Cup breaks and featured in Wednesday’s pre-season draw against Como, as did Raya. The defensive picture, though, is far less encouraging.

William Saliba is out for an extended spell with a back problem that worsened during the World Cup. The injury does not require surgery, but it will keep the Frenchman sidelined for the foreseeable future and strips Arsenal of their defensive lynchpin just as the competitive action resumes.

Both Saka and Rice carried significant physical issues through last season. Saka nursed an Achilles problem for much of the run-in, while Rice spoke during the World Cup about neural pain in his hamstring that had troubled him since Christmas, followed by a calf issue and illness.

Arteta is convinced the enforced pause has done its job.

“We haven’t noticed anything,” he said. “They have individual plans. Through the time they had with the national team they’ve been trying to evolve those issues and they have improved.

“In the rest period that they had, they both had specific programmes for themselves. They’ve been doing those and so far what I saw the last two or three days, it was really good.”

If the midfield picture looks brighter, the situation at right-back remains clouded. Jurrien Timber will miss the clash with City as he continues to battle a persistent groin injury that has dogged him since March.

The Dutch international missed the World Cup entirely and made only a brief appearance off the bench in May’s Champions League final. Arteta revealed earlier in the week that Timber was still “weeks away” from a return, and that timeline has not shifted dramatically despite signs of progress.

“[He is] progressing really well,” Arteta said. “He’s on the pitch, we’re ramping up now certain actions, especially the volume and the load.

“I think he’s on a good trajectory but still a few weeks to go. With Willy [Saliba], it is a more long-term injury.”

Pressed on whether Timber could feature before the international break next month, Arteta would not commit.

“I don’t know. We have to wait and see,” he admitted. “He needs to start to train with the group in the next week or so hopefully and then see how he progresses from there.

“But obviously it’s been a long-term issue and we want to make sure that every step that we take is the right one. He’s such an important player for us.”

So Arsenal head into Cardiff with their attacking stars returning, their midfield reinforced, but their back line patched together. Against a retooled City and a new face in Maresca on the opposite bench, the Community Shield will not decide the season — yet it may reveal whether Arteta’s squad is truly built to absorb these early blows and still launch another title charge.