The Cause Of Arsenal's 'Mahal' Players Not Playing Against Barcelona, Arteta: We Don't Want To Take The Risk

New Arsenal player, Declan Rice. (Photo: Twitter/@Arsenal)

JAKARTA - Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta revealed the reason Declan Rice missed the pre-season match against Barcelona. The new player was absent due to a collision during training.

Arteta did not want to take the risk by playing the club's "high" players. It was proven a smart decision.

Asked why the player for 105 million was not played in Los Angeles, Arteta said, "Rice is not too comfortable to train and we don't want to take risks."

In the match against Barcelona, Arsenal actually fell behind. Blaugrana striker Robert Lewandowski scored in the seventh minute.

However, Arsenal got up and closed the match which took place at the SoFI Stadium, California, United States, Thursday, July 27, 2023 at noon WIB, with a 5-3 victory.

Meanwhile, Arteta said his team would still bring in new players even though they had spent 200 million in the transfer market. Apart from Rice, Arsenal have also brought in Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber.

The Spanish man said Arsenal did have 30 players. However, according to him, it is still not qualified to face the big challenges of the new season.

"The market is still open and a lot of things can happen. We are ready for that," said Arteta.

"We still have to make improvements in terms of what we want to do in the game, but I am very happy with the current squad," he continued.