Bruno Guimaraes made his first Arsenal appearance as the Premier League champions were held to a 1-1 draw by Como in their final pre-season friendly at the Emirates.
Guimaraes, signed for a reported £75 million ($101 million) from top-flight rivals Newcastle last week, was introduced at half-time after Myles Lewis-Skelly’s opening goal for Arsenal had been cancelled out by Martin Baturina.
Lewis-Skelly’s goal, which followed a poor pass from Como goalkeeper Jean Butez, came amid reports the teenage midfielder could be leaving Arsenal.
The 19-year-old celebrated his goal by making a heart gesture with his hands, in Arsenal’s last friendly before Sunday’s Community Shield against Manchester City.
Guimaraes received a warm welcome from the home fans but the Gunners were unable to find a winner after Baturina fired past Kepa Arrizabalaga for Como’s equaliser before half-time.
“He only had three training sessions, but he looked good,” said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta of Guimaraes. “He was really pushing to play some minutes.
“I think he wanted to get his debut and the feeling of playing in front of our fans immediately,” Arteta added according to AFP.
“And, yeah, you sense immediately, I believe, a strong connection at play that is going to make us better.”
Gunners midfielder Mikel Merino, looking ahead to the Community Shield, told the club’s social media channels: “It’s another final and we want to win, we want to give the fans more happiness.
“But especially for us, we want to compete. Wearing this shirt and this badge means a lot and that’s about giving everything and playing to our best capacity.”
Arteta left out Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi despite their returns from World Cup duty this week, but there were first pre-season cameos for Eberechi Eze, David Raya, Mikel Merino and Noni Madueke.
