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Cech, Bellerin looking forward to Singapore date

Arsenal's defensive duo, part of Emery's 25-man squad for 2018 ICC, are relishing return to Singapore after 3 years

Arsenal's stars Petr Cech and Hector Bellerin are looking forward to their return to Singapore for next week's International Champions Cup (ICC).

The duo, who are in a 25-man Arsenal squad announced for the 2018 ICC Singapore, were also here in 2015 for the Premier League Asia Trophy, during which Cech made his Arsenal debut in a 3-1 win over Everton.

"Yes, we are all looking forward to going to Singapore," said Cech in a press release. "For me, it brings back memories of my first trip with Arsenal as an Arsenal player. We played two games the first time I went to Singapore. We had a match against Everton, which was my debut.

"Then we played a Singapore Select XI. It was a good trip in 2015 and hopefully this time, it's going to be the same because it's going to be the first week with the new staff and new players altogether. It's very good to create that kind of team atmosphere as well."

Cech had been linked to a possible reunion with Chelsea, whose No. 1 Thibaut Courtois could be heading for Real Madrid, but Cech's agent Viktor Kolar told ESPN that his client is focusing on the new season with Arsenal.

"It is always busy during every transfer window around Petr Cech, as a great Premier League person. However, he maximally focuses on the new season at Arsenal, no specific offer is available," Kolar told ESPN FC.

During the 2018 ICC Singapore, the Gunners will face Atletico Madrid (July 26) and Paris Saint-Germain (July 28) at the National Stadium, where new Arsenal boss Unai Emery will get opportunities to take a closer look at Cech and new goalkeeper signing Bernd Leno. 

Bellerin, meanwhile, is also relishing a return to Singapore.

"I'm really looking forward to visiting Singapore." Bellerin said in a press release. "It's the second time that I've been to Singapore and I had a great time when I went last time. It was in 2015 and it was my second pre-season with the first-team and after my first season playing as a regular, so it was a great experience for me.

"I loved the weather, I loved the city, everything is so clean and it's such a nice culture. The fans were great. Even though it's a bit of long flight for us, I'm really looking forward to it!"

The bulk of the squad had been training since the start of the month under Emery. They will be joined in Singapore by Mesut Oezil, Mohamed Elneny and Alex Iwobi, who are returning from World Cup duty.

Also travelling to the Republic will be many first-team regulars from last season such as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Calum Chambers, Rob Holding, Alexandre Lacazette, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Shkodran Mustafi and Aaron Ramsey.

Besides Leno, two other new signings, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Matteo Guendouzi, are also in the travelling squad.

Tickets for the 2018 ICC Singapore are available from https://www.sportshub.com.sg/ICC2018

ARSENAL SQUAD FOR 2018 ICC SINGAPORE

Goalkeepers: Petr Cech, Bernd Leno, Emiliano Martinez

Defenders: Hector Bellerin, Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Calum Chambers, Sead Kolasinac, Rob Holding, Jordi Osei-Tutu

Midfielders: Mesut Oezil, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Aaron Ramsey, Mohamed Elneny, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Matteo Guendouzi, Reiss Nelson, Joe Willock, Emile Smith Rowe

Forwards: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, Alex Iwobi, Lucas Perez, Eddie Nketiah

arsenal