Arsenal Football Club has announced four first-team players are to travel to Nigeria to take part in activities with regional partners and engage with supporters in the region.

Tomas Rosicky, Bacary Sagna, Per Mertesacker and new signing Lukas Podolski will be travelling to Lagos with Club officials for a flying visit the weekend after next. The players will take part in Club events and other activities organised by the Club’s partners, Malta Guinness and Airtel.

The move follows the postponement of Arsenal’s game against Nigeria which was scheduled for Sunday, August 5. Arsenal’s head of global partnerships Vinai Venkatesham said: “We were disappointed to have to postpone the game and intend to visit Nigeria next summer. However we are delighted to be bringing this group of players to Nigeria to take part in events with our regional partners. It will give us a chance to engage with local supporters and reinforce our commitment to the market.”

The players will take part in a busy schedule of events in Lagos. Emmanuel Agu, marketing manager for (Malta) Guinness Nigeria plc commented: "Malta Guinness is the Official Malt Drink of Arsenal in Nigeria and we are looking forward to welcoming the Arsenal players to Lagos.

"We are sure that they will have a most enjoyable visit as they experience the energy and vitality of their Nigerian fans. Over the next few days, we will be announcing how fans of the nation's No 1 malt drink - Malta Guinness - can enjoy not only the goodness of our new lower sugar variant, but also win the opportunity to interact and get involved with their idols at a number of exclusive events during their stay. You can get more information by going to www.facebook.com/maltaguinness."

The players will also be making appearances for mobile network operator Airtel. Deepak Srivastava, chief operating officer and executive director for Airtel Nigeria, said: "Arsenal has a very large supporter base in Nigeria and Airtel is eager to connect these fans with some of their favourite football players.

"Indeed, Airtel is extremely committed to creating opportunities to excite and engage telecommunications consumers just as we are passionate about realising our brand vision of being the most-loved brand in the daily lives of Nigerians."

Source: http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/arsenal-first-team-stars-will-fly-to-nigeria