Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta speaks on Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber injury ahead of league opener

Mikel Arteta has indicated Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber will be fit for Arsenal’s Premier League opener against Wolves.

Defensive duo of Calafiori and Timber both missed the Gunners’ resounding 4-1 demolition of Bayer Leverkusen in their penultimate pre-season friendly as Oleksandr Zinchenko, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz were on target.

But Arteta has eased fears that both are facing spells on the sidelines, explaining: “With Jurrien he had a little bit of discomfort in his feet in the last few days. Obviously with the amount of time he has been out we didn’t want to take any risks with him. In regards to Riccardo, so much happened to him in one week.

“He has come into a new environment with different methodology, different training and we are managing and we want to do it slowly to get him in the best possible way. Hopefully on Sunday he will be available to play some minutes.”

Timber’s fitness issue is not understood to be serious and Arsenal are just operating with caution to protect the player following a lengthy lay-off last season.

Meanwhile, Arteta claimed both Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice have to be ready for the new campaign – despite burnout fears after their involvement with England at Euro 2024. The Spaniard said: “The season starts in nine or 10 days so they have to be ready. These are the demands that they have right now.

“We really look after them when they are with us and we give them days off when we have the ability to do so. We have given them the rest that we needed. If you look at their faces, there is that spark in their eye. They don’t want to miss it.”

He later added: “They will tell us how they are. You throw them in and we will see how they deal with everybody and what they have. They certainly want to be involved.”

Left-back Zinchenko fired the opener from range when he slammed the ball into the bottom corner of the Leverkusen net on eight minutes. Trossard then got in on the act just a minute later when he finished an impressive team move that saw Arsenal manoeuvre the ball around at pace.

It was then 3-0 before half-time when Jesus intercepted the ball near the halfway line before driving at Leverkusen’s defence and smashing home from 20-yards. Havertz then added a fourth before Adam Hlozek pulled back a consolation for Xabi Alonso’s Bundesliga champions.