Mikel Arteta provided an encouraging update on William Saliba’s injury during his press conference on Tuesday, suggesting the defender should be back in time for next week’s clash with Manchester City.
Arsenal are currently missing a few key players, and the latest to be left out of the action is William Saliba. The centre-back appeared to suffer a hamstring problem against Tottenham Hotspur and, although he finished the match, he later missed the match against Aston Villa.
Mikel Arteta initially suggested Arsenal were very worried about the injury, but he sounded much more positive on Tuesday, telling the media that Saliba is doing well – even if Wednesday’s game comes a little too soon.
“He is progressing well, in recent days he has already felt much better but this match comes a little too early for him”, Arteta said.
Asked if Saliba could face Manchester City next week, Arteta sounded confident, replying: “Yes, I hope so, yes.”
Reports in French media had reported that Saliba would be out for three more matches, meaning he would miss Arsenal’s Champions League clashes with GNK Dinamo and Girona, as well as the Gunners’ Premier League trip to Wolves . At this stage, the City game was still a major doubt.
Arteta’s comments seem much more positive. The City game seems to be almost a guarantee, and perhaps the defender now has a chance to return for Arsenal’s final Champions League game next Wednesday.
Whether or not Arsenal feel they need the France international could well depend on today’s results, with a win against Dinamo putting the team in a very strong position to finish in the top eight even if they don’t win next week.
As for Bukayo Sakathe winger was talked about after he was spotted during Arsenal’s match against Aston Villa without crutches.
A few days earlier, Saka was using crutches during the match against Tottenham Hotspur, so the fact that he did not need them on Saturday caused some excitement among Arsenal fans.
But Arteta made it clear in his press conference that nothing has changed regarding Saka’s return, and that it is just the expected next step in his long recovery process.
“No, that’s not going to change,” Arteta insisted. “It is within the process and the time we had, this phase (on crutches) is now over.
“He’s doing very well, he’s feeling better every day, but we have to respect the healing process and then he has a lot of steps to take in his rehabilitation.”
