Mikel Arteta has provided the latest Arsenal team news ahead of the Premier League clash against West Ham United.
Of course, the one confirmed absentee before the Spaniard spoke to the media on Thursday afternoon was Gabriel Jesus. The striker underwent knee surgery earlier in the month after sustaining medial ligament damage whilst on international duty with Brazil at the World Cup.
A timeline for the 25-year-old's absence is yet to be revealed, but if he is facing up to 12 weeks on the sidelines, it may not be until the beginning of March that he's available for selection again which means he will miss games against Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and Manchester City in addition to the Hammers.
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And when speaking ahead of the Boxing Day clash, Arteta wasn't able to reveal a possible return date: "With Gabi it’s difficult to put a time frame," the Arsenal manager told reporters. "I never gave a date. I said that we don’t know. It’s gooing to take some time for sure. He’s gone through surgery and that tells you the extent of the injury. We’re will be in the market always active and we will assess the biggest opportunities that we have."
However, the Gunners boss was a lot more forthcoming with regard to Reiss Nelson and Emile Smith Rowe. The former limped off against Juventus last weekend with a suspected hamstring injury whilst the latter still has some work to do before he is available for selection.
"With Reiss, unfortunately he picked an injury against Juventus and he’s going to be out for a while I think" Arteta added. "I’m talking weeks not days. He will be out for a few weeks. Let’s see how he reacts in the next few days. He felt something straight away and with sprinters that’s not a good sign.
"Emile is close. He had a setback but he’s there and he’s in a good place. We've done a lot of things with Emile. Sometimes he has been close, sometimes he has been in different places to see a different environment. His attitude has been great and this is part of any career, any development to have periods where you are out and have long-term injuries.
"He needs to react to that but for sure he has got all of our support and he is a huge talent that we need for the second part of the season at his best because his contribution will be key to the team."
When Smith Rowe can return to action still remains to be determined as he didn't feature in any of the friendly matches against Watford, Lyon, AC Milan, Juventus or Luton Town which means he will be short of match sharpness after undergoing groin surgery at the end of September.
On a more positive note, Arteta has revealed that William Saliba is due back in training on Friday following his exploits in Qatar with France at the 2022 World Cup. The defender played less than 30 minutes at the tournament and that might have an impact on his involvement against West Ham.
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