Steve Bould has missed Arsenal's trip to China after having to undergo surgery in Australia.
Arsenal assistant boss Bould was missing from the bench for the friendly with Bayern Munich because he had a hernia in his neck.
It flared up during Arsenal's week in Australia and he has now returned to London.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said: "Steve Bould has a hernia on his neck and had to do it in Australia and he couldn’t travel. He went home on Saturday. He’s OK. He went home and he’s good."
The Gunners boss was flanked by new coach Jens Lehmann and Vic Akers in the Arsenal dugout for the International Champions Cup win against Bayern in Shanghai.
Bould's absence - when he had been in his usual role for the games in Australia - had been puzzling Arsenal fans.
However, it turns out that the former centre-back was not in his usual spot next to the manager because he is recuperating from an operation.
Despite Bould's absence, Arsenal sub keeper Emiliano Martinez was the shootout hero in the sweltering heat of Shanghai.
Martinez made two saves from David Alaba and Juan Bernat as Arsenal beat the Germans on penalties.
It came after Alex Iwobi's injury time leveller cancelled out Robert Lewandowski's early penalty.
Aaron Ramsey, Nacho Monreal and Alex Iwobi were on target from the spot for Arsenal who then lifted the trophy.
But the scorching temperature saw players really struggle as Sead Kolasnic looked ill before coming off while Per Mertesacker also pulled out just before kick-off.