Mikel Arteta lauded the Arsenal fans for the welcome they gave new signing Riccardo Calafiori in the pre-season friendly win over Lyon.
Calafori came on in the 64th minute and received a huge ovation from the fans as William Saliba and Gabriel both scored in the Gunners’ final pre-season friendly.
Speaking after the game, Arteta was delighted with the reception for Calafiori and said: “I love it when the fans and supporters react like that to one of our own. The way you feel it straight away, it’s love. That’s an unbelievable platform.”
Arteta will be hoping the Italian can build on that platform next week against Wolves. Whether or not he will be ready to start the opening league game remains to be seen but Arsenal are not short of defensive options, especially with news that Jurrien Timber nearing a return.
Arsenal have had a positive pre-season and Arteta believes that his side are ready for the start of the season: “Overall it’s been a really positive pre-season. I think the tour was a success and then the two games we’ve played here were really competitive. The team was exceptional especially in the first half where we reached moments of the highest quality.”
Arsenal played five games in their pre-season circuit and won three of them. Their most impressive performance came against Bayer Leverkusen in a 4-1 win.
Arteta will be especially pleased that Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka were fit to start the game today. The two Englishmen were given an extended rest after the Euros and this the first start of pre-season for each of them.
The Lyon manager Pierre Sage also weighed in on the title race: “Last year was a big challenge, because the two teams had a good run, but City made the difference at the end. It’s similar to City and Liverpool before. It’s a league where the teams are very close to each other. You have to be very consistent and you have to win the biggest games against your opponents.”
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