Mikel Arteta has offered an update on Bukayo Saka’s latest injury ahead of Arsenal’s looming clash with Manchester City.
The England winger was forced off hurt for the third time in as many games as the Gunners slumped to a shock 2-1 defeat away at Lens in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Losing Saka again is a major concern for Arsenal, who now face a very anxious wait to discover the extent of the issue and if he will be ruled out of Sunday’s key Premier League showdown with title rivals City at the Emirates Stadium.
“He tried to backheel a ball in the first half and he felt something,” Arteta explained to reporters after the Group B loss in France. “It was something muscular. He wasn’t able to carry on and we had to take him off.”
Pressed on if the injury was serious, the Arsenal boss replied: “We don’t know anything more than that. It was big enough for us to remove him.”
Then asked if Saka could be fit for the visit of Pep Guardiola’s reigning champions City to north London this weekend, Arteta said simply: “I have no clue.”
A more concerning update from Arteta on Saka was given to Norwegian journalist Arilas Ould-Saada, with the Spaniard reported to have said: “It doesn’t look good.”
Many Arsenal fans will question why Arteta chose to start Saka - who was rested for last week’s Carabao Cup third-round win at Brentford - against Lens given that approaching clash with City and his recent injury trouble, though the manager insisted that he had no regrets over the decision.
“No. It was a knock that he had the other day and he was perfectly fine,” Arteta said. “It was a backheel, an action that can produce that kind of injury. Let’s see what the extent of it is and afterwards it’s too late.”
Asked if the latest setback was unrelated to his other recent injuries, Arteta said: “The last few were more knocks than anything else. He hasn’t really missed games. We gave him a break against Brentford last week and that was all.”
Arteta also insisted that Saka does not need convincing to play three times in a week in his current state, having previously been challenged by his manager to make himself a superstar by making a consistent impact during such busy periods of the fixture list.
“No, he was really looking forward to playing like every player,” Arteta said. “It was a big Champions League night. I painted a picture and the type of scenario we were going to face today and they all knew about it.
“But this Champions League is so difficult to win away from home. Today we take a big lesson.”
