Arsene Wenger has confirmed in his pre-Emirates Cup press conference that club captain Thomas Vermaelen will definitely miss the start of the season after being ruled out for another six-weeks.

The 27-year-old had a chronic back injury diagnosed back in July but despite missing Arsenal’s tour of Asia in favour of intensive rehab at London Colney is still some way from recovering full fitness.

It leaves the Gunners seriously short of options in the centre of defence with Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker the only tried and tested duo. Bacary Sagna has spent much of pre-season playing in the middle and youngster Ignasi Miquel represents a further alternative although it’s obvious that since the exit of Johan Djourou and Sebastien Squillaci it’s an area that needs reinforcements.

In better news Nacho Monreal will return for training on Monday having picked up a problem on holiday following his exploits at the Confederations Cup.

The Spaniard won’t be around for this weekend’s Emirates Cup matches with Napoli and Galatasaray although the boss did confirm that both Santi Cazorla and Yaya Sanogo will get game time.