Arsene Wenger may be busy finalising his team plans, but summer signing Aaron Ramsey is determined to give the Arsenal manager little option other than to play him in the opening game of the new Barclays Premier League season.

With pre-season training resuming on Tuesday for those Gunners not involved in international action over the summer or recovering from injury like Tomas Rosicky, Bacary Sagna and Abou Diaby, the Arsenal manager will soon see first hand just what he has available for the battles ahead.

While the futures of leading scorer Emmanuel Adebayor and winger Alex Hleb have yet to be resolved, Wenger knows he can at least count on his only new signing so far to be ready for kick-off.

Arsenal's pre-season programme is scheduled to begin in earnest when the full squad travel to Austria on July 21 as they prepare for their Champions League qualifier.

Teenager Ramsey, signed from Cardiff in a £5million deal, is likely to get a run-out in those friendly fixtures - and he has already set his focus on the domestic opener against newly-promoted West Brom at Emirates Stadium on August 16.

"Obviously the plan for me is to have a good pre-season and try my hardest to get up to the fitness levels the Premiership requires," said Ramsey in the South Wales Echo

"I will try my best to get in the starting line-up at the beginning of the season against West Brom.

"I am joining one of the biggest clubs in the world, one which always gives young players an opportunity at the highest level.

"I am going to work my hardest to be part of future successes there."

Wales Under-21 midfielder Ramsey, 17, could have opted for Old Trafford instead of Arsenal, but the lure of working with Wenger, who has nurtured so many talents, proved decisive.

He said: "I supported Manchester United as a youngster but once I had spoken to Arsene Wenger, the way he described the Arsenal set-up and their plans for the future impressed me.

"I just had a gut instinct that the right move for me would be joining Arsenal. It was my decision.

"I thought about where the best place would be for me to develop as a player, and that was Arsenal.

"I don't think too many people wouldn't look forward to coming under the guidance of Arsene Wenger and playing next to someone like Cesc Fabregas.

"Arsene is a great manager and Cesc can make something happen out of nothing on the pitch."

Whether or not Adebayor will line up alongside his Euro 2008-winning team-mate remains to be seen.

AC Milan and Barcelona continue to court the 24-year-old Togo hitman, who smashed in 30 goals last season as the Gunners just came up short in the title race and Champions League.

Arsenal, though, are determined to keep hold of the striker, whom chairman Peter Hill-Wood intends to see honour his contract.

Wenger, however, knows retaining the services of a man whose focus is elsewhere would be a futile exercise, and in a Sunday newspaper interview lamented the "mercenary" tactics of some players in the modern game as well as citing Arsenal's long-term commitments to finance their stadium debt as another factor to consider.

The Gunners could certainly recoup a substantial fee for either Adebayor or Hleb, with Barcelona said to have already tabled a £24million bid for the striker, which was rebuffed.

AC Milan may not be able to offer Adebayor Champions League football next season, but could yet come back in for the African having landed midfielder Mathieu Flamini on a free from Arsenal at the end of last season.

"It's no secret we're interested in signing a forward and are studying candidates," Milan's technical director Leonardo told BBC Sport.

"[Didier] Drogba is a fine player and Adebayor is a player I really like. We are waiting for the right time to move."

Just when that will be could well depend on how fast Wenger would be able to line up a potential replacement.

Ajax striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Newcastle's Obafemi Martins and Roque Santa Cruz, currently at Blackburn, are all potential targets, while any move for Russian playmaker Andrei Arshavin seems to depend on what happens with Hleb.

An end to the protracted transfer of long-time target Samir Nasri may be in sight, while Portugal Under-21 international Amaury Bischoff is another who claims he is on his way to the Emirates after German side Werder Bremen announced his departure.

More news from SportingLife.com