— The squad

The signing of former Gunners favourite Olivier Giroud ahead of the start of last season proved to be a masterstroke by Milan, as he ended his first campaign as joint-top scorer with 11 goals, including a brace on the final day to help land the three points needed for the title.

Alongside him at the top of the goalscoring charts was Rafael Leao, who netted twice in Portugal’s run to the quarter-finals of the World Cup. The pair however won’t feature against us having made the knockout stages of the tournament, which also rules out Fode Ballo-Toure (Senegal), Sergino Dest (USA) and Theo Hernandez (France).

Simon Kjaer and Charles de Ketelaere have been included in the travelling party after their early exits with Denmark and Belgium respectively, while long-term injury concerns Mike Maignan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are also in Dubai hoping to build up some match fitness.

Other former Premier League players on the trip include former Chelsea pair Fikayo Tomori and Tiemoue Bakayoko, Liverpool cult hero Divock Origi and ex-Manchester City youngster Brahim Diaz.

— The current season

Milan headed into the World Cup break sitting second in the table, eight points behind leaders Napoli after 15 games - not helped after losing a crunch game to them 2-1 back in September, which is one of just two league defeats so far this term.

Their only other losses both came against Chelsea in the Champions League, but they still managed to advance to the knockout stages by picking up 10 points from their games against Red Bull Salzburg and Dinamo Zagreb.

Giroud and Leao again lead the scoring charts, while Diaz and veteran Croatian attacker Ante Rebic have also chipped in with decent hauls. Milan have played one friendly since regrouping, which saw them beat fourth-tier side Lumezzane 3-2 last Thursday.