Arsenal have confirmed their 24-man UEFA Europa League squad for this season and Mikel Arteta has included all of his five summer signings.
The Gunners have made a return to Europe following their 5th placed finish last season after missing out the previous campaign. They have made an impressive start to the ongoing season and had a perfect record in the Premier League before suffering an away loss against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Arteta’s men will kick-start their European campaign against FC Zurich on Thursday. The North London side reached the semi-finals of the Europa League the last time they were a part of the competition, in 2019/20, and they’ll be looking to go one further this year.
The Gunners have now named their squad and youngsters James Hillson and Matt Smith are included along with the five newcomers in Gabriel Jesus, Marquinhos, Fabio Vieira, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Matt Turner.
Jesus has already come good for Arteta and should be in the reckoning for the Premier League golden boot. The Brazilian forward has scored three times and assisted three more from his six Premier League outings so far. The 25-year-old is a key component in this Arsenal set-up.
The duo of Mohamed Elneny and Thomas Partey have also been included in the list despite currently being injured. In fact, the former is expected to be out for a significant period with a hamstring injury.
Arsenal will be high on confidence, given the way their season has started. Having said that, they will be expected to coast through their Europa League group, which has PSV Eindhoven, FC Zurich, and Bodo Glimt FC alongside them.
They failed to secure Nicolas Pepe’s replacement and a deadline day move for Douglas Luiz could not materialise, unfortunately for Arteta. The former Manchester City assistant boss still has a squad capable of going all the way in the second-tier European League.
Goalkeepers: Aaron Ramsdale, Matt Turner, James Hillson
Defenders: Ben White, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Rob Holding, Cedric Soares, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko
Midfielders: Kieran Tierney, Thomas Partey, Martin Odegaard, Fabio Vieira, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Mohamed Elneny, Granit Xhaka, Matt Smith
Attackers: Gabriel Jesus, Emile Smith Rowe, Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah, Reiss Nelson, Marquinhos
