Mikel Arteta spotted meeting Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke as £50m decision made

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has met with club owner Stan Kroenke on the club's pre-season tour of the United States.

Arsenal continued their preparations for the upcoming campaign with a 5-3 win over Barcelona on Thursday.

Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Leandro Trossard (2) and Fabio Vieira scored to secure an impressive win for the Gunners at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

Ahead of the match, club owner Kroenke was filmed meeting Arteta and several Arsenal players during a training session.

Kroenke was joined by his son Josh and his two bulldogs at the Arsenal session.

Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko came over to greet the pair and their pets before being followed by Arteta, who then shared a hug with both Kroenkes.

The club owner was also pictured chatting to Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka during the session.

Kroenke will no doubt be looking forward to the start of the new campaign, with Arsenal taking on Manchester City for the Community Shield on August 6.

Arsenal are likely to complete further transfer business before the transfer window closes, having already signed Kai Havertz, Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice.

One player linked with a move away from Arsenal this summer is striker Folarin Balogun.

According to The Telegraph, Arsenal are ready to sell Balogun if their £50m asking price is met.

Mikel Arteta greeting the Kroenkes & their dogs at Arsenal training in Los Angeles during the week.

Josh Kroenke on his dogs: “They’re definitely full-backs! Just don’t count on them to defend any area of the pitch because wherever the ball goes, they’ll chase!” 😂❤️ #afc pic.twitter.com/WwRzqOQaNs

— afcstuff (@afcstuff) July 26, 2023

Balogun trained away from the rest of the Arsenal squad ahead of their win over Barcelona and did not feature in the match.

Arteta later revealed he had sat it out through injury.

"He was unavailable. He has a little foot injury and hasn't been training with us," said the Gunners boss.

Inter Milan are said to be preparing a £35m bid for Balogun and Arsenal may look to cash in on the player this summer.

When asked if Balogun was part of his plans for the upcoming season, Arteta did little to play down the possibility of him leaving the club.

"We will see. First of all he needs to be fit and play minutes," said the Spaniard.