OPINION
July has signalled the opening of the transfer window and the beginning of pre-season for clubs across the country.
For Arsenal, their preparations saw them jet off to Australia and China on Sunday, for a series of friendly fixtures against Sydney FC, Western Sydney Wanderers, Bayern Munich and Chelsea.
Arsene Wenger included new signings Alexandre Lacazette and Sead Kolasinac in his squad, as announced on the club’s official website, but there were a whole host of recognisable names missing from the list.
Former Newcastle defender Mathieu Debuchy, mercurial winger Alexis Sanchez and England Under-21 defender Rob Holding were among the absentees, having fallen out of favour, recovering from injury or handed extended leave due to international commitments.
Up in the North East, Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez has been equally busy as his Arsenal counterpart, bringing in Christian Atsu and Florian Lejeune to boost his squad ahead of their return to the Premier League.
The Magpies will be spending their pre-season a little closer to home, with a pair of fixtures in Germany as far as they will get from Tyneside this summer.
As such, they should take advantage of Arsenal having left several stars behind, and This is Futbol has picked out the three they should swoop for, including an experienced international midfielder with a point to prove: