Arteta eyes early silverware as Arsenal face Manchester City in Community Shield

Arsenal are keen to begin the new season with silverware when they face Manchester City in this weekend's Community Shield, with manager Mikel Arteta saying on Friday that his squad have returned refreshed, fit and highly motivated.Hungry Arsenal target Community Shield as Mikel Arteta eyes strong start to new season (Reuters Photo)Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal to start the new season with a trophy when they face Manchester City in Sunday's Community Shield, with the manager saying his players have returned refreshed and highly motivated.Premier League champions Arsenal will take on FA Cup winners Manchester City in Cardiff in the traditional curtain-raiser to the new campaign.Arsenal ended a 22-year wait for the Premier League title last season, but their campaign finished on a disappointing note as they lost the Champions League final to Paris Saint-Germain on penalties.Arteta sees the Community Shield as an opportunity to put that disappointment behind them and start the new campaign on a positive note. "It is a trophy, one that we can have because we earned it last year from winning the Premier League," Arteta told reporters on Friday."You can tell how hungry the players are, which is a good sign. I love the way the players have come back, most of them earlier than expected. Really fit, we've done all the testing. They all seem in great condition." The Arsenal manager was also pleased with the mood around his squad after a busy summer in the transfer market."The moment they start to look at each other, I said: look at the squad that we have and what we're building. There's a lot of excitement," he said."The best version of Arsenal has to be on Sunday. That's the intention. The best performance, the best way to start the season by lifting the first trophy. That's the way we've prepared for the season. On day one, be at our maximum level."Arsenal have added to their squad during the summer, with Bruno Guimaraes joining from Newcastle United, while Christos Tzolis and goalkeeper Illan Meslier have also arrived.The club were linked with Brazil winger Vinicius Jr, but the 26-year-old decided to extend his stay at Real Madrid.Arteta said Arsenal were still looking at ways to improve the squad and welcomed the competition for places ahead of the new season."It's a very exciting part of the season. There's an opportunity to evolve and understand how every player is feeling. We are trying the maximum within 13 or 14 days to compete for every possible position," he said."I'm not going to talk about individuals. The ambition of the club is big. We want to improve and evolve the squad. We have detected the areas that can be strengthened."- EndsPublished By: Saurabh KumarPublished On: Aug 14, 2026 20:13 IST