Today, Arsenal announced their second summer vacation trip to the US in three years. This time, they'll be playing on the west coast, and it's a pretty big game, for a friendly - they are going to be the opponent in the 2016 MLS All Star Game, being played on July 28 in San Jose's brand-new Avaya Stadium, home of the world's longest outdoor bar, which is a thing you brag about when your team is the San Jose Earthquakes and your biggest supporters group fancies itself to be straight out of a Bill Buford book.
And the 2016 @ATT #MLSAllStar opponent is… https://t.co/r5hdaKxc0U
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) February 11, 2016
Avaya is conveniently located right across the street from San Jose International Airport (no, I'm not exaggerating), and mere minutes from California's Great America, where I imagine Arsene and his pals riding rollercoasters and eating cotton candy all day while they're on vacation.
The one downside to this is it comes during an extremely crowded summer, which sees both the European Championships and the Copa America Centenario; what this means for squad availability obviously has yet to be determined, but this could in fact be the 2016 JEFF Breakout Tour USA if most of the top-line names are rested.
No news yet on ticket availability, but we'll obviously keep you posted as it gets closer.
UPDATE: Tickets for this game, if you're not a San Jose season ticket holder, will be sold via lottery. Register for said lottery here.