Mikel Arteta says new signing Riccardo Calafiori will need time to get up to speed after missing the pre-season defeat to Liverpool.
Calafiori’s move to Arsenal was confirmed on Monday but he was not included in the squad to face Liverpool as the Gunners were beaten 2-1.
Kai Havertz pulled a goal back before half-time but first-half strikes from Mo Salah and Ricardo Carvalho secured victory for the Reds.
Explaining Calafiori’s absence, Arteta said: “We had to manage him. He had a very busy 48 hours before his flight. Then it was the jetlag and he hasn’t trained with the team yet.
“We want to build him slowly, to get to know him first. We will have plenty of time to see him.”
Arsenal will now return to the UK following their tour of the USA and Arteta says he has been pleased with the progress of some of his youngsters who have received opportunities in the absence of key players like Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka.
“I’m really pleased with all of them,” he said.
“Unfortunately I wanted to give opportunities to all of them, we didn’t have enough time to do so.
“But especially the ones that played, I think they performed and responded incredibly well. So that’s something that we take from the tour as well, that we have a lot of talent there that we want to use and they showed that they are very much pushing to earn the right to play with us.”
FEATURED IMAGE: Charly TRIBALLEAU / AFP / GETTY IMAGES VIA ONE FOOTBALL
