Mikel Arteta was delighted with the consistency we showed in our first pre-season match against AC Milan in Singapore.

Bukayo Saka’s goal was the difference at the National Stadium, with a host of players getting important minutes as we build up for the 2025/26 campaign.

Following the victory, Mikel praised the performance of his whole squad, including academy stars, with the likes of Max Dowman and Marli Salmon making their first-team debuts.

He said: “It’s good, winning and a clean sheet as well, overall a very good performance, a very consistent performance throughout the game. We had a lot of changes, we’ve seen the players are playing at a very high level.

“A big joy as well to watch so many young kids playing at 15, 16, 17 years old performing at that level, overall, very good.”

As well as the academy starlets getting minutes, we also saw summer signings Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard and Kepa Arrizabalaga also represent us for the first time.

Our manager believes the trio of new additions have settled fast and paid homage to his existing squad for making them feel at home right away.

“I think they adapted really quickly, really fast,” he said. “It’s an incredible group of players that we have and they’ve made them feel straightaway very welcome and you can tell, they were very loose, very relaxed, very confident in everything that they did and, again, a very positive performance.”

The contest marked a first match in Singapore since 2018, when we defeated PSG 5-1. Supporters were out in full force at the National Stadium and with a second match at the ground coming up this weekend against Newcastle United, Mikel was delighted to see the fans in Singapore again.

“It was very special, we’ve been here before, we know how special this place is with our club,” he added. “Just to build that relationship, that connection even stronger and hopefully more crowd time next game.

“I think now we will review the match, review each individual, how is he first of all, physically, because we have put a lot of load and demands in them, and keep evolving the team in the right direction, sustain and keep the very good things that we are doing at the moment, and the tweaks and improvements that can make as well.”