Reports in Finland have emerged, suggesting that Arsenal will play a friendly against Manchester City not long before the start of the Premier League season, on August 10th at Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium.
This would be a rather more strenuous warm-up game and would cap a busy summer for the Gunners, who visit Indonesia, Vietnam and Japan in July, as well as playing in the Emirates Cup.
Gonalons and Grenier are Garde-d
Arsenal have been linked to a pair of Lyon players recently, defensive midfielder Maxime Gonalons and playmaker Clement Grenier.
However, Lyon’s manager (and former Arsenal player) Remi Garde has insisted he will not ‘accept’ the sales of either of the two players, as they are vital to his plans for next season.
"Am I keen to accept the transfer of Gonalons and Grenier? No, because they are exactly in our project and I want to build the team around them. If Grenier achieved such a level it is because he has worked so hard.
We have been much more demanding with him like all our young players. But, he convinced everyone, he did everything to be at the core of our project in the coming years."
Of course, both players have limited time left on their contracts, and Lyon can do little to keep them if they have their hearts set on a move.
Arsenal are interested in the pair and have held discussions with their agents, and Garde, despite his objections, is very close to Arsene Wenger and would likely stand aside if he was persuasive enough.
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