Arsenal will travel to Australia in 2017 for a friendly against Sydney FC as the club's plans to expand its brand globally continue.
Standard Sport understands that the fixture will be announced early on Wednesday UK time, with the match set to take place at the 80,000 plus capacity ANZ stadium in Sydney.
The trip, scheduled as part of the build-up to the 2017/18 campaign, will see Arsenal visit the country for the first time in 40 years. Their last fixture saw them take on the Australian national team in 1977, defeating the Socceroos 3-1.
In the intervening years pre-season tours have become increasingly lavish, with Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham having played friendly matches in Australia in recent years.
An extended European Championships this summer could potentially limit clubs opportunities to undertake money-spinning global tours during the next off-season, but it still remains notable that Arsenal have agreed plans for a fixture 18 months before kick-off.
Arsene Wenger had long attempted to resist this trend, preferring to take his side for a training camp in Austria rather than engage in lavish promotional tours.
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His attitude has thawed somewhat in recent years, with Arsenal taking part in the Barclays Asia Trophy in Singapore ahead of this season.
Wenger emphasised the importance of a settled pre-season free of travelling ahead of this summer's tour, saying: "We have had trips where we spent three or four nights out of seven on a plane.
"When you get to your last game you are not completely in a good state to guarantee a performance and I believe it’s the best possible position for us to combine serious training and serious competition."
Reports in Australia also claimed that the club would play a further fixture at the ANZ against Western Sydney Wanderers.
