Arsenal’s preseason Asia tour in review: Gyökeres’ warm welcome, Dowman’s impact

HONG KONG — On Arsenal’s first morning at their Hong Kong waterside hotel — the lavish Rosewood in Victoria Dockside — team manager Mikel Arteta walked through a lobby area near the elevators and was suddenly confronted by at least 50 autograph hunters who had edged closer to the inner sanctum than staff had planned. Arteta called for calm, signing a few shirts desperately flung in his direction, before security intervened and order was restored.

As metaphors go, it was on point: He’d better get used to surprises coming around the corner.

It was also an example of the intensity that has defined the club’s preseason trip to Asia, a combination of extreme hospitality, hyperbole and humidity it will hope serves as the right precursor to what might be the most scrutinized and high-pressure season yet for Arteta and his players. They have been Premier League runners-up in the past three seasons. The wait for silverware is now five years. And the club’s messaging during this tour has focused on “reaching new heights.”

Taking that literally, there is only one place to go.

– Ready to go: Gyökeres unfazed by Arsenal pressure, taking Henry’s No. 14
– What we’re hearing in the transfer window: Arsenal still open to Eze deal; Man Utd striker search latest
– Why everyone is talking about Arsenal’s Max Dowman, 15

Arsenal have spent more than £200 million on six new signings, including the center forward so many fans have craved for years. Viktor Gyökeres threatened to overshadow this tour until he joined it, increasing the excitement among fans to the point where his name was cheered the loudest at the Kai Tak Stadium when Arsenal played Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday.

Expectations are high. Arteta is already rebranding “pressure” as belief, claiming those who say Arsenal should win the league this season do so out of an accompanying admission that they are indeed good enough to do it, something his players should therefore take as a compliment.

Ten months to realize their dreams now lie ahead. Here’s what ESPN learned from spending time with the team in Singapore and Hong Kong as it gears up for the challenge.

Arrival in Singapore

Shortly after arriving in Singapore, Arteta and managing director Richard Garlick addressed players and staff at their hotel on Sentosa Island, sources told ESPN. Those with knowledge of the gathering described the takeaway theme in one word: energy. Sources said that word was used repeatedly during a talk focused on gathering themselves for the season ahead.

Their resolve was immediately tested. Arsenal’s first training session was postponed due to a stunning rainstorm — typical in the region — that left Arteta facing the media around lunchtime, unsure whether the team could rearrange something for later in the day. It eventually did, but at the expense of pushing back various commercial commitments in an already packed schedule. That said, the club’s away kit launch took place that evening as planned, with Mikel Merino, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Martín Zubimendi and Riccardo Calafiori making an appearance alongside actor Will Poulter.

The players trained at the National Stadium under the roof. Multiple sources suggested they found the humidity stifling in both sessions, although Declan Rice later said, “The humidity helps get the fitness up so I’m really enjoying it.”

The Gyökeres effect — and Berta

Arsenal beat AC Milan 1-0 in their first tour match on July 23, but as the main Singapore National Stadium camera singled out Arsenal fans in the crowd, many used the opportunity to mimic Gyökeres’ masked goal celebration. Sources told ESPN that reports on social media suggesting a deal had been finalized in the days before the game were in fact premature; even Friday evening local time, senior Arsenal executives were still concerned about the final points of the deal being agreed upon after lengthy negotiations with Sporting CP.

Sources said Sporting had proved difficult negotiators, but Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta showed his value in getting it over the line. Berta has impressed Arsenal’s key decision-makers, who believe him to be every bit the top executive they hoped they had landed after Edu Gaspar’s abrupt departure in November.

Sources said that some at Arsenal believed Berta was unattainable, given his longstanding connection to Atletico Madrid. However, executive vice chair Tim Lewis and Garlick met with Berta along with other candidates before Berta later met with Arteta — and finally, Josh Kroenke — to ensure the club’s owner, Kroenke Sports Enterprises, had due input. Some senior figures at the club joke that Berta never seems to sleep — his work ethic has surprised even those who were already impressed with his body of work.

Berta has been left to lead negotiations in many instances this summer and regularly reports back to the club’s key decision-makers. Sources said the Italian’s clear and regular communication has been another welcome characteristic.

Arteta, Lewis and Garlick — along with the reappointed director of football operations, James King — had settled on the need to add more scoring power at the top end of the pitch during their November meeting with the club’s owners in Los Angeles, before Berta’s arrival, but the Italian had an active input into identifying the preferred option. Sources said Arsenal considered Alexander Isak at Newcastle, but harbored several doubts about a deal. Not only did they believe Newcastle were extremely unlikely to let him leave, but whether his fitness record suggested that he could be relied upon every week as a £100 million-plus signing would need to be.

The Gunners conducted detailed background work on Benjamin Sesko at RB Leipzig for well over a year. However, preliminary talks suggested a deal would be expensive for a player of Sesko’s largely untapped potential. Figures quoted for the transfer fee and personal terms set off alarm bells, in part because of the possible downside risk if he proved an unsuccessful signing.

Sources said the club was also conscious about the psychological demands of leading Arsenal’s line and the scrutiny on the position. Gyökeres’ stunning goal record for Sporting — 97 in 102 games — plus a strong conviction in his strength of character convinced them he was the man for the job.

After a €63 million deal (plus €10m in add-ons) was finally completed, Berta arrived with Gyökeres in Singapore for their second game of the tour, a 3-2 win over Newcastle, where they were greeted from the car by Lewis, who had only just flown in himself, and Garlick. Fans were told to be in their seats for Gyökeres’ official unveiling at 7:15 p.m. — 15 minutes before the scheduled kickoff time — and although the striker was a little sheepish when the moment came, it was a useful introduction to the increased scrutiny he is now facing.

Arsenal had originally hoped to have Gyökeres on their preseason tour from the outset before talks slowed with Sporting. Their desire to have him with the group in Singapore on Sunday evening, despite then making a four-hour trip to Hong Kong on Tuesday, underlined Arteta’s desire to begin his integration as quickly as possible.

Style of play and robustness

There were some familiar patterns in Arsenal’s play across their three matches in Hong Kong, even in their 1-0 loss to Tottenham in the final game of the tour.

Ben White and Bukayo Saka combined well down the right flank; Martin Ødegaard was reinvigorated by that conduit thriving. Cynics would argue there was a slight lack of potency against Spurs, as was often evident in the 2024-25 campaign, but the most interesting development was an increased directness in Arsenal’s play.

Sources said there is an acknowledgment internally that the Gunners will have to adapt their style to get the best from Gyökeres. He is not a player who is at his best coming deep to link the play in the way that Kai Havertz, for example, can. Instead, sources said, Gyökeres will be expected to play to his strengths between the center backs, running in behind as much as possible. Sources said this won’t necessarily mean more long-ball soccer, just more of an emphasis on getting it forward quicker.

There is also a recognition that poor player availability cost Arsenal dearly last season. A thorough review has included training plans and, particularly, workloads after players return from international duty. Sources said, for example, that the club identified that Gabriel Magalhães’ injury against Fulham in April — a hamstring problem picked up in the first 16 minutes of the game — came after he was away on international duty and sprinting at a speed Arsenal’s internal data says he reached for the first time in two months.

Sources said the club’s summer transfer policy has been significantly influenced by finding players with a good track record in availability. Arteta revealed he had effectively abandoned his tiered system of ranking players by the volume of matches they had to play. Nevertheless, a through line across all their signings this summer has been the pursuit of players who are rarely injured. Sources said there’s still an acknowledgment that some of this is purely down to luck no matter how meticulous the planning.

Dowman proves the kids are all right

Arsenal face a difficult balancing act with 15-year-old winger Max Dowman. Sources said he surprised senior figures at the club with his ability to take the preseason games in his stride, making a notable cameo in all three games. Dowman won the penalty that decided the game against Newcastle, while Tottenham appeared to double up on him as they protected their slender advantage at Kai Tak. His prodigious talent has the fan base extremely excited, and sources said Dowman appears to have everything in place to thrive at the highest level.

However, he is a young teenager not yet allowed to sign a professional contract or even change with his first-team colleagues. Sources said the club are also conscious that he is, to put it simply, a growing boy. No amount of internal data will be able to conclusively answer whether Dowman, Marli Salmon or any of the other young prospects yet have bodies able to withstand the impact of a strong tackle in the men’s game.

Sources said Arteta is therefore inherently prone to protecting Dowman, a midfielder with an ability to take players on and therefore likely to get tackled, even at the risk of taking criticism from supporters who will want to see him play more often. Time will tell whether his talent proves too great to resist.

Sources also told ESPN that the club is impressed with the support network Dowman has around him, and that there are plans to offer him a deal around the turn of the year, perhaps in January.

Arteta’s search for balance

Arteta is notoriously meticulous and intense in his work, which might be part of the reason he has struck up an immediate rapport with Berta. However, sources said Arteta is more determined these days to remind himself to take joy from the work he is doing. There is, perhaps, somewhere in there an acknowledgment that his intensity needs to be nuanced.

For example, sources said Noni Madueke offered to meet up with the Arsenal squad immediately for their Asia tour despite winning the Club World Cup with Chelsea in the United States just a few days before his €52 million switch. Arteta was initially keen on the idea but then recognized the need for the player to take a holiday and enjoy the victory he had just secured.

It has, however, at times been difficult to reconcile that search for balance with what the naked eye saw. The club’s two open training sessions on the tour saw Arteta play a highly active role, physically pushing players around and joining in the sessions himself.

Then again, he knows he must be prepared for anything — whatever comes around the corner.