Arsenal's Key Players Back for Community Shield Against Manchester City

Mikel Arteta will have Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka back at his disposal when Arsenal face Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday, with the pair cleared to return after their post-World Cup breaks.

The England duo are back in full training following the run to the semi-finals in North America and are in contention to feature in Cardiff, where the Premier League champions meet the FA Cup holders in the traditional curtain-raiser.

Rice is not the only key midfielder rejoining the group. Martin Zubimendi, fresh from lifting the World Cup with Spain, is also back and ready.

"They will be available," Arteta said of Rice, Saka and Zubimendi at his pre-match press conference. "They trained with us today, they will train tomorrow. If they are in the condition we expect them to be, they will be involved."

Saka had originally been scheduled to report back on Monday, but he and Spain goalkeeper David Raya cut their holidays short and returned on Saturday, giving Arteta extra time to assess their sharpness.

The rhythm of pre-season has started to build. Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke and Mikel Merino are also back from their World Cup breaks and all featured in Wednesday’s friendly draw against Como, as did Raya. The squad picture is not entirely positive, though.

William Saliba faces an extended spell out with a long-term back problem. The issue, which worsened during the World Cup, does not require surgery but has ruled the defender out for the foreseeable future.

Saka spent much of the second half of last season nursing an Achilles problem. Rice revealed during the World Cup that neural pain in his hamstring had troubled him since Christmas, before he was also hit by a calf issue and illness. Those concerns lingered over Arsenal’s summer.

Arteta, however, is adamant the break has done its job.

"We haven't noticed anything," he said. "They have individual plans. Through the time they had with the national team they've been trying to evolve those issues and they have improved.

"In the rest period that they had, they both had specific programmes for themselves. They've been doing those and so far what I saw the last two or three days, it was really good."

One absentee is already confirmed for the meeting with City. Jurrien Timber remains sidelined by a persistent groin injury that has dogged him since March.

The Dutch international missed the World Cup entirely and managed only a brief substitute appearance in the Champions League final in May. Arteta admitted earlier in the week that Timber was still "weeks away" from a return, and that timeline has not shifted significantly despite encouraging signs.

"[He is] progressing really well," Arteta said of Timber. "He's on the pitch, we're ramping up now certain actions, especially the volume and the load.

"I think he's on a good trajectory but still a few weeks to go. With Willy [Saliba], it is a more long-term injury."

Could Timber make it back before the international break next month? Arteta refused to commit.

"I don't know. We have to wait and see," he said. "He needs to start to train with the group in the next week or so hopefully and then see how he progresses from there.

"But obviously it's been a long-term issue and we want to make sure that every step that we take is the right one. He's such an important player for us."

So Arsenal head to Cardiff with their attacking heartbeat returning, their midfield reinforced, but their defensive plans still disrupted. Against a City side now led by Enzo Maresca, the first clues of how Arteta balances that equation will arrive under the glare of a trophy on the line.