Don't wait around for updates - sign up for our daily football email newsletter today! Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice The Gunners got their pre-season campaign off to a great start on Saturday, when they beat Boreham Wood 8-0 on Saturday. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang bagged a hat-trick, with Reiss Nelson, Alexandre Lacazette, Eddie Nketiah, Jeff Reine-Adelaide and Henrikh Mkhitaryan also on the scoresheet. Their first Premier League game of the season will be at home to Manchester City on Sunday 12 August, but before then they face three games abroad. Two International Champions Cup fixtures are taking place next week in Singapore, before they head to Ireland for another game in the same competition. Unai Emery’s men will then face one more friendly against La Liga opposition in Sweden. CLICK THROUGH THE GALLERY ABOVE TO SEE THE ARSENAL PRE-SEASON PLANS.<doc-sep>LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 11: Mesut Ozil of Arsenal warms up during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Watford at Emirates Stadium on March 11, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) Mesut Ozil will join up with the Arsenal squad on their preseason trip to Singapore next week. With Unai Emery still formulating his plans, his presence does carry some significance. Arsenal have been conducting preseason activities since the start of July. Unai Emery has been putting his new squad through their paces, looking to decipher many of the selection dilemmas that he has for the season ahead, and begin to instill some of the tactical and technical elements that come with his change in system and strategy. However, with the World Cup also ongoing at the same time, some of the players that would usually partake in the summer preparations were absent. David Ospina with Colombia, Danny Welbeck with England, Mohamed Elneny with Egypt. That does add a layer of complication that would not usually be present during a normal preseason. Thankfully, though, some of those players are beginning to return to the squad, the most prominent of which is Mesut Ozil, who will travel to Singapore and join up with his teammates in far East Asia. It may seem like a fairly benign piece of news. All that is happening is a person is turning up to work. That’s it. But for Ozil, who endured a horribly difficult World Cup in which he was dropped from the German side and was roundly blamed for the defending champion’s nightmare time in Russia, and for Emery, his presence does carry some significance. First and foremost, it is a return to normality. The World Cup is special. It only happens once every four years. It is not normal to play in an international competition in the summer while preparations for the domestic season are undertaken. Ozil might well be happy to simply get back to what he has done for the last five years. But more than that, this will be the first time that Emery and Ozil have worked together. Their careers have not overlapped prior to this point and, other than what their mutual connections may have said of the other, they have no experience of working with one another. Striking a positive relationship quickly is important, and this is a chance for the two to invest in one another. Moreover, Ozil is an extremely divisive figure. Some in the game are utterly enamoured with his qualities and are quite happy to overlook his high-profile warts; others are less merciful and heavily scrutinise his game for lacking commitment, courage, diligence, and industry. No one really knows what Emery thinks about Ozil. In fact, it is quite possible that Emery doesn’t know what Emery thinks about Ozil. This trip to Singapore, the training sessions that will be undertaken over there, the preseason matches against Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, will all help Emery form his opinion on Ozil and how he can be used — and protected — this season. So yes, the news may literally be that a man is turning up to work. But there is a greater nuance and effect to it than just the bare fact. Ozil and Emery need time to work together, and the more of it they get, the better. This is the start of that all-important process of acclimitisation.<doc-sep>Arsenal news: Gunners stars were all smiles shortly before Unai Emery axed five players from tour When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Arsenal have continued their hard work in pre-season training ahead of their tour to Singapore Arsenal have been undergoing a strenuous pre-season training programme under new manager Unai Emery since the Spaniard took over from Arsene Wenger in June. The Gunners boss has been a vocal presence at London Colney as he looks to prepare his side for the upcoming campaign. A slimmed-down Arsenal squad have been training at their north London base over the past two weeks, with a number of internationals still away following World Cup duty. The likes of Mesut Ozil, Alex Iwobi and David Ospina will all join up with their team-mates on the first leg of the pre-season tour in Singapore. However, five players who have been training will not travel to the Far East after Emery reportedly axed them ahead of moves away from the club. The Evening Standard claim Carl Jenkinson, Chuba Akpom, Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Joel Campbell and Krystian Bielik have not been named in the 25-man party. Take a look through the gallery above to see the best pictures from Arsenal’s latest training session shortly before Unai Emery reportedly axed five players from the pre-season tour.<doc-sep>
U nai Emery’s first pre-season as Arsenal head coach will certainly prove a great chance for him to top up his air miles. From Boreham Wood to Singapore, the Gunners have a hectic pre-season that sees them facing off against some of the continent’s biggest names. Emery has already taken charge of his first non-competitive match at the club. Arsenal ran out 8-0 winners of Boreham Wood of the National League on Saturday, July 15, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring a hat-trick inside 17 minutes. Before they fly out, the Gunners have also arranged behind closed doors friendlies, including one against Crawley that saw Bernd Leno in action for the first time since his £22million move from Bayer Leverkusen. Where are they going? Arsenal fly to Singapore on Sunday for games against Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain next week, as manager Unai Emery continues to work with his new squad. The Gunners then face Chelsea in Dublin before they play Sevilla in Stockholm. Who’s going and who’s not? Mesut Ozil, Mohamed Elneny and Alex Iwobi — all of whom were eliminated from the World Cup at the group stage — will all go on the tour of Singapore but new signing Lucas Torreira and Danny Welbeck are still on a break following the tournament in Russia and will not be travelling. When are the big guns back? Torreira, the £26.5million signing from Sampdoria, is due to join up with the Arsenal squad early next month, along with Welbeck. What are the key issues for the manager? Emery is busy implementing his ideas ahead of the game against Manchester City at Emirates Stadium on the opening weekend of the season. His squad should be fresh for the Premier League season. Arsenal players were on the pitch for 1820 minutes at the World Cup, almost 50 hours less than Tottenham players. Arsenal's pre-season fixtures home and abroad Date Opponent Kick-off (UK) TV Coverage Stadium July 14 Boreham Wood 0-8 Arsenal 15:00 Arsenal Player Meadow Park July 26 Atletico Madrid 1-1 Arsenal (1-3 pens) 12:30 Premier Sports Singapore National Stadium July 28 Arsenal 5-1 PSG 12:30 Premier Sports Singapore National Stadium Aug 1 Chelsea 20:00 Premier Sports Aviva Stadium Aug 4 Lazio 19:00 -- Friends Arena You can purchase tickets to Arsenal's pre-season games here.