Arsene Wenger has said that he will be offering a fair chance to the fringe players to show their worth during the club’s tour of Singapore.
The likes of Gedion Zelalem, Chuba Akpom, Dan Crowley, Alex Iwobi and Chris Willock have passed the screening process and made the trip to Asia, and will be hoping to provide the manager food for thought as he attempts to build a team capable of surmounting a Premier League title bid.
Speaking ahead of their match against a select Singapore XI tomorrow, the Arsenal manager said: “It’s a good opportunity for me to give a chance to players who are on the fringe of the team and to see how close they are to contributing.”
He even went as far as to suggest that they may be pivotal in terms of the club’s activity in the transfer market.
“That [the performance of the fringes] can influence my decisions before the transfer market is over.
“For us it’s important because it’s a football game and the best way to test where you stand in pre-season is to see how far you are and how quickly we can find our game back.”
The boss is also looking forward to plying his friendly trade in Asia again, after beginning the practice back in 2011. The Gunners have travelled to China, Vietnam and now Singapore in recent years, from which Wenger has learned a lot.
“I have a good experience because I worked in Asia,” he said. “I know that usually these teams will be focused, they know that they play Arsenal and they prepare for this game for a long time.”
“We have had some difficult experiences in Asia and because we are in the preparation as well you expect to suffer a little bit tomorrow. Usually what you face in Asia is very mobile teams, very quick teams and teams that are very disciplined – so [we] expect that kind of team on Wednesday.”
