Arsenal gunning for S’pore return at 2018 International Champions Cup

SINGAPORE — Three years after they last turned out at the National Stadium, English Premier League (EPL) giants Arsenal are set for a return to Singapore for the 2018 International Champions Cup (ICC).

The north London club, which is currently sixth on the EPL table, is close to signing a deal with organisers of the annual friendly football tournament, TODAY has learnt.

Dates for the 2018 ICC, as well as the names of the other two clubs taking part, have yet to be confirmed.

TODAY has reached out to sports marketing agency Catalyst Media Group (CMG), which organises the event with Relevent Sport, for comment.

Arsenal are set to become the second English top-flight team to feature in the ICC after 2016-2017 league champions Chelsea’s participation here last year.

Touted as one of the biggest football tournaments in the region, the inaugural ICC was held at the 55,000-seater National Stadium from July 25 to 29, 2017. The event saw close to 105,000 fans turning out to catch European giants Chelsea, Bayern Munich, and Inter Milan in action.

The ICC is part of a four-year deal signed last year between the Singapore Tourism Board and CMG to be the tournament’s only stop in South-east Asia from 2017 to 2020 — a first of its kind for the ICC.

Gunners fans were delighted to hear about their club’s return to Singapore and the Republic’s S$1.33 billion Sports Hub.

Arsenal’s last appearance here was in 2015, when the Republic hosted the Barclays Asia Trophy, which also featured English side Stoke City and a Singapore selection.

Arsenal fans are especially eager to catch their club’s new signings Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan in action on the National Stadium pitch. Just last week, Arsenal broke the bank to secure the services of Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund in a club-record deal worth £56 million (S$103.5 million). Armenian international Mkhitaryan made the move from Manchester United to Arsenal as part of a swop deal for Gunners forward Alexis Sanchez.

“Naturally, we are all very pleased to see them back here, and we are all very curious to see the two new signings, Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan,” said Mr Tiong Jin Yan, 58, president of the Arsenal Singapore Club.

“The rumour is that Atletico Madrid and Olympique Lyonnais are the other two clubs, and that should be interesting because Arsenal had played them in previous Champions League campaigns.”

With Arsenal fans from the United Kingdom, United States, Australia and Asia expected to travel here, Mr Tiong added that the supporters’ club would look into organising a futsal tournament for fans during the ICC.

Long-time Arsenal fan Noah Tan added: “I remember the buzz they created when they were here in Singapore… It’s not every day you can see such top footballing stars up close, and it’ll otherwise be expensive for people here over in this part of the world to travel over to England to watch them play. So it’s an absolute privilege to be able to do so at a much more reasonable price.

“Personally, I’m most excited to watch Mkhi, because I appreciate players with silky technique. Aubameyang will be fun to watch too, especially as he’s quite a colourful character off the pitch.”

While there are concerns about whether Arsenal — as well as the other clubs — will bring a full line-up of players due to the pre-season tour being held soon after the June 14 to July 15 Fifa World Cup, Gunners fan Eric Ong is confident the ICC will still deliver plenty of thrills on the pitch for fans.

He said: “It (absentees) is expected…but this is pre-season so we can get a chance to watch the other players as well. Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan’s countries are also not playing in the World Cup so we should get to see them.

“What I look forward to (in such tours) is meeting up with other Arsenal fans from different countries.”