Mikel Arteta has confirmed that both Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka will be available for Arsenal during the Community Shield -Credit:Nigel French/Allstar, Getty Images Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi and Bukayo Saka will all be fit to feature against Manchester City in the Community Shield. The Arsenal manager also gave updates on William Saliba and Jurrien Timber, both of whom are working their way back from long-term injuries sustained during the FIFA World Cup. None of the five players featured in any of the Gunners' preseason friendlies. Rice, Zubimendi, and Saka all progressed to the final weekend of the tournament with England and Spain, respectively, earning them extra rest time to prepare for what promises to be another demanding campaign at club level. Saliba, however, went down with a back problem in the early stages of France's semi-final loss to Spain. Timber, meanwhile, suffered a serious groin injury just days before the Netherlands kicked off their tournament, as per The Mirror.
Kylian Mbappe drops World Cup truth bomb after absurd third-place loss to England Donald Trump sparks outrage with Harry Kane World Cup comments -Credit:David Price, Arsenal FC via Getty Images Arteta was pressed for an update on all five players at Friday's pre-match press conference and delivered mixed news. "They [Rice, Zubimendi and Saka] will be available. They trained with us today, they will train tomorrow and if they are in the condition that we expect them to be, they will be involved. "Jurrien is progressing really well, he is on the pitch, we are ramping up now with certain actions and especially the volume and the load. I think he is on a good trajectory, but there is still a few weeks to go. Wilo, as we all know, it's more a long-term injury." When pressed on whether Timber could make his return before the next international break beginning in September and running through October, Arteta responded: "We have to wait and see. He needs to start to train with the group in the next week or so, hopefully, and then see how he progresses from there. "It's been a long-term issue, and we want to make sure that every step that we take is the right one, he feels right to do that, because he's such an important player for us." To listen to the latest episode of 'All Out Soccer' - CLICK HERE Both Rice and Saka dealt with fitness concerns during the World Cup and required careful management by England's medical team. Yet Arteta has seen nothing from either player to cause him alarm. "We haven't noticed anything; they had individual plans through the time that they had with the national team," he explained. "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."