Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that record signing Declan Rice has sustained a knock in training.

The £105m recruit from West Ham was absent for the 5-3 friendly win over Barcelona early on Thursday morning and, after the game, Arteta provided an update on his fitness:

“Dec had quite a strong kick in training and didn’t want to take the risk, he wasn’t comfortable to train yesterday and today, and we decided not to play him.”

From the looks of things, Rice won’t be sidelined for too long, with the decision to keep him out of the squad for the Barca match purely a precaution.

Oleksandr Zinchenko’s absence is more of a concern, though. Arteta says he is hoping that the Ukrainian international won’t be out for an extended period, having missed some of the tour of the US:

“With Alex, he had a muscular injury again, unfortunately. He’s getting back – I think he’ll be back soon, but it’s a shame that he hasn’t been with us the whole tour.”

An Arsenal striker is also still sidelined

Folarin Balogun has been training individually during the US tour, prompting some to speculate that he could be set to leave the Gunners in the near future.

However, Arteta has revealed that the American international has suffered a foot injury, preventing him from playing against either Manchester United or Barcelona.

Balogun will undoubtedly be very disappointed that he hasn’t had the opportunity to show Arteta what he can do in pre-season. After scoring 22 goals for Stade de Reims last campaign, the forward is keen on playing regular football again next season.

A number of teams, including Inter Milan, are keen on snapping up the 22-year-old, but the Gunners will only let him leave this summer if a club is prepared to match their £40m to £50m valuation.