Mikel Arteta has provided a worrying update on William Saliba’s injury ahead of Arsenal’s final games of the season.
The French defender is battling to play again this campaign while contending with a nagging back problem.
Arsenal have largely dealt with their injury issues of late, including problems for Granit Xhaka and Oleksandr Zinchenko.
But Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mohamed Elneny are set for longer spells on the sidelines.
Here is your latest update of Arsenal injuries and return dates...
William Saliba
Arteta said on Monday that Saliba is in a “similar” position to last week with regards to his recovery from a back injury.
The Gunners are desperate not to cause long-term damage to the defender, while persisting with Rob Holding in defence for the remaining weeks of their title challenge.
In fact, Saliba was said to have made no progress at all in recent days, as it looks increasingly unlikely that he’ll play again this season.
“We will have to wait until the next game to see where we are, but he hasn’t improved this week at all,” said Arteta.
Mohamed Elneny
Egyptian midfielder Elneny did travel with the squad to last week’s defeat at Manchester City.
However, he was only a spectator wishing his Arsenal teammates well on their 4-1 loss at the defending champions.
A knee injury suffered in January will keep him out for the rest of the season.
Takehiro Tomiyasu
Like Elneny, Tomiyasu’s season has already been ended by a knee injury.
The full-back picked up the blow on the same night Saliba was hurt against Sporting CP in the Europa League, on March 9.
In fact, Arteta said on Monday that Tomiyasu is a doubt for the start of next season with his timeframe for a return “maybe now six months”.
