Mikel Arteta has admitted Arsenal will put new signing Bruno Guimarães through a late fitness test ahead of Friday’s Premier League opener against Coventry City.

Arsenal parted with $101 million (£75 million) to bring Guimarães over from Newcastle United and watched him play 45 minutes in both a preseason friendly against Como and the Community Shield victory over Manchester City.

As he returned from the locker room last weekend, Guimarães had ice strapped to his right thigh, sparking obvious concerns about his condition heading into the new season. While Arteta insisted the problem was nothing serious, he refused to reveal whether the Brazilian will play on Friday.

“Let’s see how he is,” the predictably mysterious Arteta said. “He’s evolving really well but let’s see for tomorrow.”

How Arsenal Could Line Up Without Guimarães

Fortunately for Arsenal, their midfield unit is very well stocked.

Club captain Martin Ødegaard has earned the chance to continue in attacking midfield after a stellar showing against City, while Arteta does have plenty of options for the deeper pairing behind the Norway international.

Young Myles Lewis-Skelly is another who deserves another run-out, but the academy graduate could become a victim of the senior quality around him. Martín Zubimendi and Declan Rice both came off the bench last weekend to step up their preparations for the new season after deep runs at the World Cup, with Arteta confirming both are “ready to be involved” here.

The versatile Mikel Merino is also available after seeing his final few months of last season disrupted by a foot injury.

While there are doubts over Guimarães, Arsenal know they will definitely be without defensive duo William Saliba and Jurriën Timber. Arteta is hopeful that Saliba may return after the international break in September, but right back Timber may well be available slightly earlier

“I said in the next few weeks,” Arteta insisted on Timber. “He’s not training with the group yet.”

Friday will also come too soon for impending signing Ezri Konsa, whose $69.4 million move from Aston Villa will not be completed in time for the match.

“We are really active in the market, I think I mentioned that a few days ago,” Arteta added. “The ambition is to improve the squad.

“We have a really specific issue in the backline, especially with the long-term injury of Wilo [Saliba] and the fact that we miss one more defender; that’s clear. So we are trying to reinforce that area. Whenever we’re ready, we’ll announce something.”