Mikel Arteta has defended his decision not to bring youngsters such as Charlie Patino and Marcelo Flores on Arsenal’s pre-season tour, saying he had to find the right ‘balance’ in the squad.
The Gunners flew to Baltimore on Thursday and will take on Premier League rivals Everton on Saturday night in the first of three friendlies in the United States, with matches against Orlando City and Chelsea to follow.
But Arteta raised some eyebrows with his squad for the trip, bringing along a host of players who spent last season out on loan as well as five goalkeepers.
Aaron Ramsdale, Matt 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 were left out.
Arteta has now explained his thinking, saying that he has tried to balance out the involvement of the club’s academy players across the entirety of pre-season – not just this one trip.
Asked if it was tough to leave out the likes of Patino and Flores, the Arsenal boss replied: ‘It was, but it was impossible [to bring them].
‘So we have Reuell [Walters] here, we have Flo [Folarin Balogun] as well and we have tried to balance. But we had a lot of young players as well in Germany. So I think we have the right balance.’
Patino came off the bench in Arsenal’s 5-3 win over Nurnberg in Germany earlier this month, while Salah Oulad M’Hand and new signing Marquinhos were also involved – though Flores stayed back in the UK.
There are suggestions that the Mexican attacker is unhappy with his lack of involvement with the first team in pre-season so far, having been expecting to go on the tour of the USA after Arsenal blocked him from linking up with his nation’s Under-20 side.
The inclusion of players
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