Arsenal: Arsene Wenger promises 4-week break for internationally involved stars

Arsene Wenger believes that his Euro 2016 stars need at least four weeks to recover and be back in the team before the start of the Premier League campaign. Arsenal had eight players competing in the European Championship in France with the hosts reaching the final in the competition which had two Gunners stars in the form of Laurent Koscielny and Olivier Giroud in the starting eleven.

The north London club also had three players competing in the Copa America, with Alexis Sanchez going on to win the tournament with Chile for the second time in a row.

Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and Granit Xhaka were the other players who impressed in the Euros and Wenger wants to give them enough time to recuperate from the physical rigours of the tournament and also get themselves back to a better mental shape after the disappointment. France lost the Euros to Portugal in extra time while Ramsey missed out on the semi-finals after being suspended for picking up a second booking in the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile, Xhaka missed a decisive penalty which led to Switzerland crashing out of the round of 16 to Poland. Sanchez is also a major doubt for the opener against Liverpool, with an ankle injury destined to keep him out of the pitch for the opening few games.

"You consider the rest time because France had a long, long go and I believe that they need four weeks' holiday because they need to recover from that," the manager told Arsenal Player, as quoted by the Guardian.

"It takes you two or three weeks to regenerate ... to recover completely, and they need to come back with hunger. That disappointment to lose a final, it takes some time to recover from that.

"I believe the club benefits from experiences at the top level, and the mental experiences as well that they have gone through with such a huge pressure. Of course, in the longer term you benefit from that."