Arsenal supporters are eagerly awaiting news of when William Saliba will be available for selection following more worrying updates from Mikel Arteta.
The France international has been sidelined with a back injury since the Europa League round of 16 penalty shootout defeat at the hands of Sporting CP subsequently missing the Gunners' Premier League games against Crystal Palace, Leeds United, Liverpool, West Ham United, Southampton and Manchester City.
There was hope that Saliba would be fit enough for Wednesday night's showdown at the Etihad Stadium especially after Mohamed Elneny posted footage of the defender in the gym on the exercise bike, but that wasn't the case and Arteta also confirmed the 21-year-old is likely to miss the Chelsea game on Tuesday night.
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"There's not been a real improvement unfortunately on him, so we’re still waiting," the Spaniard revealed in his pre-Manchester City press conference on Tuesday morning. "We’re still hopeful, but another week has gone by and he hasn’t been able to train with the team.
"At the moment we don't have him. We are preparing the game without him and probably the next game will come too soon as well. We have to go week by week at the moment."
Considering the Gunners will have four games remaining after Chelsea's visit and Saliba is seemingly not close to rejoining the senior squad in full training, naturally the discussion amongst the Gunners' fanbase is centered around if the defender will be back in action in a bid to bolster the club's pursuit of lifting the Premier League trophy come May.
Well, there are a couple of factors that indicate what could be the Frenchman's likely return game. The first being the fact he's not yet been ruled out for the remainder of the season which raises the possibility of being involved against either Newcastle United, Brighton, Nottingham Forest or Wolves.
However, it should be noted that given Arteta's cautious approach with players returning from long-term injuries, unless Saliba is back in full training within the next fortnight or so, it could be that he isn't considered for selection until pre-season thus allowing him to get adequate rest ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.
With Takehiro Tomiyasu also sidelined for the remainder of the season, if the same fate falls upon Saliba it would leave Arteta short of natural right-sided central defensive options as he weighs up how to sort out the frailties his side have shown defensively in recent weeks.
"We wanted to tweak a few things, especially there," Arteta said after the 4-1 loss at the Etihad. "But when they are able to execute and score an early goal you have to understand where we’re coming from, you have to be loyal to what has brought us all this way. We’ve done it in the past in different ways and that doesn’t guarantee you anything. It’s time to look in the mirror (at) what we could have done better or differently."
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