Alexis Sanchez will miss Arsenal's opening two Premier League games through an abdominal injury as manager Arsene Wenger refused to reveal if the club had received any bids for the forward.
The Chile international has been linked with a move away from the club this summer with less than a year remaining on his current deal at the Emirates Stadium and could walk away for free at the end of the upcoming season.
Wenger has insisted several times that Sanchez will not be sold, although links with Manchester City continue.
Having played in the Confederations Cup up until the final on July 2, Sanchez was given an extended summer break which included missing Sunday's Community Shield penalty win over Chelsea.
Now Wenger has revealed the 28-year-old will miss Friday's Premier League clash at home to Leicester as well as the trip to Stoke the following weekend.
How do you feel your pre-season has gone?
“We are well prepared and ready for a fight. Ambitious as well.
“I think we had good physical preparation and all of our players got a decent number of minutes.
“Now it is about transforming the quality of preparation into points.”
What team news is there ahead of the Leicester game on Friday?
“We have plenty of uncertainties about players who didn’t play against Chelsea in the Community Shield - Ramsey, Ozil, Mertesacker.
“I have players coming back who have not played, like Mustafi.
“Sanchez will not be available. He has a little abdominal strain that he caught on Sunday morning in training, before he came to Wembley. He had a scan two days ago and he's out for a while.
"I don't know if it is two weeks or one more week, but he will not be available. I think he will not play at Stoke, yes."
How is Sanchez mentally?
“He is focused. When you have treatment on the medical bench it’s not easy.”
Have PSG been in contact recently about Sanchez?
“No. It’s a long time I didn’t speak to [PSG president] Nasser [Al-Khelaifi], because he's certainly very busy to complete the transfer of Neymar and it's a long time that I didn't speak to him.
"I think if you read the French papers, they are on [Kylian] Mbappe's case to finish their transfer market."
Have their been any offers for Sanchez?
“I cannot tell you that. We are not open to any offers anyway.”
What expectations have you set for the season?
“We have to do more [this season]. The target is very difficult to set. You can interview seven to eight managers who say they want to win the Premier League. Let’s just focus on ourselves.
"How strong are the other teams? I don’t know. It’s very hard to predict.”
What do you think of the €222million spent on Neymar?
“It has a consequence because the money will circulate and rotate. Barcelona’s money, will it come to the Premier League? I don’t know.
“But the money is only numbers. The number of quality players is not increasing.”
What are your thoughts on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's future?
“Yes. I think he had in his career some bad moments because he had some small injuries.
“Last year he was much more stable. I personally think he’s a hugely talented player and he’s on the way up.
“He’ll continue to move up because the potential is there. He’s today very conscious of his qualities as well, something he was not always.
“I personally think he’ll be a very great player.”
Was it hard to convince David Ospina to stay?
"Yes. It was not easy [to convince him to stay]. But he will get the number of games as well. the fight with petr Cech is quite open. The battle is not won definitely.
“Anyway, we play other competitions and he will get games.”
Are any other players closer to leaving the club?
"No. Yesterday I had the managers' meeting and was talking with the other managers in the other clubs.
"It looks like everywhere there is many, many players and a bit of congestion at the moment everywhere."
Theo Walcott described Sead Kolasinac as an 'animal', what have you made of him?
"He has the force of an animal, certainly. But I just think that Kolasinac is a good player and that he has an attitude that is suited to the Premier League.
"That means he is determined, he is aggressive and forceful and wants to play. In our club that is vital. Every time we win the ball we want to play and he is available to play."