Arsenal summer signing in contention for Napoli start

Arsenal have had a positive start to the season, with four wins from four games, but one disappointment for the fans has been that they haven’t been able to watch new signing Bruno Guimaraes in action more often.

Guimaraes has only played 64 minutes of Arsenal’s opening four matches, with 45 of those coming in the Community Shield win over Manchester City.

Since that match, Guimaraes has missed the game against Coventry City, played a cameo role as a substitute against Aston Villa, and been left on the bench against Chelsea.

The problem has been a couple of minor injury setbacks the 28-year-old has suffered during his two appearances so far. Neither was enough to keep him out for more than a game, but they’ve prevented him from making a Premier League start for his new club.

Yet Isaan Khan reports for the Daily Mail that Guimaraes should be in contention to start Arsenal’s Champions League opener against Napoli on Wednesday.

Khan confirms that Guimaraes suffered a knock in his substitute appearance against Villa last Monday, and Arsenal evidently opted not to risk him against Chelsea. But he may now be ready to come back into the starting lineup for the first time since August 16th.

If Guimaraes is ready to start against Napoli, Arteta may opt to make some changes to his midfield, with Declan Rice, Myles Lewis-Skelly, and Martin Odegaard starting all three of Arsenal’s Premier League games so far.

Guimaraes, Martin Zubimendi, or Eberechi Eze could come in and offer rests to one or two of the players in that trio, with Arsenal also due to play an away game against Sunderland on Saturday.

Arsenal should certainly rotate against Ipswich Town in the League Cup next week, but they may need to make a change or two on Wednesday as well, if they want to keep everyone at 100%.