Arsenal’s pre-season training intensifies in Japan as Lukas Podolski (left) and Per Mertesacker finally get the chance to put their Samurai costumes to some use with a pitched battle.

Once the pleasantries are out of the way Mertesacker attempts to use his height advantage to get one over his team-mate …

… but it will take more than just height to defeat Podolski. Can’t see that haircut catching on though.

Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta (left) and Bacary Sagna were getting to grips with the more sedate skill of making sushi.

And here are the final results. Would you eat sushi made by Bacary Sagna? Let’s hope it’s better than his defending.

All that sword fighting is hungry work and Mertesacker seems eager to sample Arteta and Sagna’s culinary delights. Rumours that the defender will miss the rest of pre-season with an upset stomach have not been confirmed.

Elsewhere in Japan, David Moyes seems to have bolstered his squad with these two Samurai warriors. Those helmets are all well and good but when winter comes how will they get their snoods over them?

Even with all the armour a Samurai is nowhere near as fearsome as David Moyes’s Glaswegian stare.

Strength-in-depth is crucial in the modern game.

But these Manchester United players must have drawn the short straw and have been packaged off to a meet-and-greet with a motor engine. Not just any engine though. It’s United’s official diesel engine partner. In fairness they have done well to stay awake.