Inside Arsenal’s Dubai trip: Nailing their set-piece plans, Bukayo Saka boost, team bonding sessions with the WAGs, academy stars who impressed the most …and how staff reacted to Kai Havertz hammer blow

Arsenal‘s premise was clear. After a December slump last season in which the Gunners lost to West Ham, Fulham and Aston Villa — dropping 11 points in the process — their title bid seemed all but over.

It was a trip to Dubai in January 2024 which kickstarted a rampaging run to keep the north London club in title contention to the final day of the Premier League season.

Their record in the league upon returning from the Middle East read: 16 wins, one draw away to Manchester City and one defeat, with 53 goals scored and only nine conceded.

A similar run is required now if Mikel Arteta’s men are to battle Liverpool to the end this time round, as they try to overturn a seven-point deficit. No wonder the Spaniard was so keen to take his players back to the same spot when a slot opened up due to Arsenal’s FA Cup third round exit and Champions League success.

They first had to finish in the top eight of the Champions League table to bypass the play-off stage. Those ties are two legs, played this week and next.

The Gunners easily did so, finishing third in the league stage to automatically go through to the last 16. But what was to transpire, in the form of Kai Havertz’s hamstring injury which has ruled him out for the rest of the season, put a dampener on a positive visit overall.

Bukayo Saka’s return to training was a huge boost to the club as he recovers from injury

Max Dowman, who is just 15, joined the likes of Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly in Dubai

Arsenal’s latest Dubai trip came with the same aims that were laid out last year: team bonding, bringing families together, further integrating academy players and making set-piece plans.

The team travelled to London on Wednesday night, straight after their defeat by Newcastle at St James’ Park in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg, before flying out to Dubai on Thursday morning.

Arsenal again used the Nad Al Sheba sports complex as their base. As well as two FIFA-standard pitches, it boasts hi-tech extras such as an altitude chamber, cryochamber, climate chamber and a performance lab to give coaches data.

There are also on-site physios and masseuses. It’s a regular haunt of elite footballers during the off-season, having been used by Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba.

The sight of Bukayo Saka doing light training work is said to have been a boost around the camp. The scar on his leg from hamstring surgery caught attention on social media, yet the winger was upbeat in the Dubai sun as he nears a comeback; late March is understood to be the target.

Set-piece plans were drilled across the five days as Arsenal try to keep opponents guessing, having scored a multitude of goals from dead-ball situations this season.

Max Dowman, at 15 the youngest squad player on the trip, is said to have impressed staff. The teenager has regularly trained with the first team this season and was involved in their public training session ahead of the Champions League match against Dinamo Zagreb last month.

He cannot play for the first team yet because of age-limit rules, but looks to have a strong chance of featuring in the next campaign.

The team travelled to Dubai on Thursday last week and used the Nad Al Sheba sports complex

Arsenal are targeting late March for Saka’s return to a much depleted forward line 

The trip had similar aims to last year in promoting team bonding and bringing the families together, further integrating academy players and working on set-piece plans

Kai Havertz’s hamstring injury was the big blow felt by staff, ruling him out for the season

The big blow was Havertz’s hamstring injury, which he suffered in stretching to block a shot in training. The Arsenal frontline was already only just getting by after  hamstring injuries to Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, and Gabriel Jesus’s ACL blow. Now, Arteta has yet another problem.

These injuries, and not signing a forward in the last three transfer windows, leave Arteta with just three available attackers in Leandro Trossard, 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri and Raheem Sterling. When Chelsea come to the Emirates next month, that is likely to be down to two, with Sterling unavailable as he is on loan from the west Londoners.

Arteta must shuffle his frontline for the trip to Leicester City on Saturday lunchtime, but there is some grace in that Arsenal have a far less congested schedule following a manic January that saw them play nine times. Between now and April, they play seven times.

It’s understood the players’ families were invited to watch a training session on one of the days in Dubai, with team bonding again a key element of the trip.

A core of the wives and girlfriends meet at matches and socialise away from the club. They include Helene Spilling, Tolami Benson, Milly White, Sophie Weber and Laura Trossard Hilven.

These are the significant others of Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Ben White, Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard respectively.

Asked by Mail Sport last season about the growing group of families socialising together, Arteta said: ‘They need to build those friendships and those close circles around them.

Team bonding was a key element of the trip, and was used to great effect last season

Dowman was hugely impressive in Dubai but FA rules bar him from playing this season

Havertz’s injury was a huge blow – but Arsenal have to hope the Dubai sun can work its magic

‘We have created that. Big credit to them and how much they have put into that because it’s really helpful for the team, so if they are happy, much better, because the players are gonna be happy and more settled. It gives you a much bigger sense of belonging somewhere when you really feel that you are part of something.’

Arteta is big on wider integration. His decision to invite family members on the trip last year didn’t meet with universal approval but having seen the move work so well — it is said to have enhanced the sense of togetherness he is so keen to nurture — the same approach was applied again.

Bonding also applies to a squad that has drastically changed in make-up with the inclusion of academy youngsters including Ismeal Kabia, Nathan Butler-Oyedeji and Dowman. 

Kabia and Butler-Oyedeji have been involved more than usual because of the frontline decimated by injuries, and could be drafted in for more action.

Losing top scorer Havertz is a huge blow. Arteta’s men can now only hope the Dubai sun works its magic again.