Arsenal summer plans have been finalized, with three former Gunners to make a notable return to north London.

Arsenal will face Lyon in this season’s Emirates Cup on Sunday, August 11, after playing a separate friendly against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, August 7.

The Emirates Cup, an annual friendly at the Emirateos Stadium, will make a one-day formal comeback. In the past, Arsenal has faced two opponents across a single weekend, but this time a second friendly, not officially part of the Emirates Cup, will be played a few days before for more recovery time between games, considering the proximity to the start of the season.

The interesting choice of both opponents is their connection with the Gunners. Both opponents have close links with the Gunners. Leverkusen, the newly-crowned Bundesliga champions and Invincibles, achieved their success with the help of former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka, who will be returning to north London to play for the first time since his departure in the summer of 2023.

After it was confirmed that Leverkusen will compete with Arsenal in the Champions League next season, Xhaka said, “To be honest, I do not want to play against them.” Everyone knows what a beautiful seven years I had there. But if it’s to happen, then I’ll be sure to enjoy it.”

While the Emirate Cup will not be a competitive match, the Swiss international appears to be playing against his former team sooner than expected. Moreover, he will not be alone in this.

Lyon, of course, they have more than one former Gunner on their books, with Alexandre Lacazette and Maitland-Niles also making their first playing return to the Emirate stadium. Both players departed the club when their contracts ended, Lacazette in 2022 and Maitland-Niles the following year, both moving on a free transfer to the Ligue 1 side.

Lacazette has had a revival in his career in France. After 74 appearances with OL, he scored an incredible 53 goals in all competitions.

Because of his outstanding statistics, Arsene Wenger signed Lacazette in 2017, but Lacazette struggled to perform at the same level and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s arrival made things worse.

However, there is a chance that Lacazette could miss the Emirates Cup clash. Lacazette was selected by Thierry Henry for France’s Olympic squad for the competition, which will be hosted in Paris from July 24 to August 10, and he may not be able to return to his club before then.