Arsenal have struggled with a raft of injury problems this season and manager Mikel Arteta has revealed they are also having an effect on the club’s plans for the summer transfer window
Arsenal could be forced to change their transfer plans after Mikel Arteta admitted there are “big question marks” over how some of their key players will recover from surgery. Arsenal’s Premier League title bid was derailed this season by injuries to several top stars.
Bukayo Saka has just returned after three months out of action with a serious hamstring problem, while Gabriel Magalhaes, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus have all suffered season-ending injuries.
Jesus is recovering from knee surgery, while both Gabriel and Havertz required surgery after suffering hamstring injuries. And the pair’s recovery from surgery could have a major effect on Arsenal’s transfer business, with Andrea Berta recently becoming the club’s new sporting director.
When asked how Arsenal’s injury problems are affecting their ability to plan for the summer, Arteta replied: “It makes it harder. There are some players who will start the season after surgical intervention and that’s always a big question mark.
“We don’t know how capable those players are going to be to sustain congested periods. Let’s see if it affects our transfer plans but we have to be very conscious of that.
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“There are a lot of uncertainties in relation to what some of those players are going to be able to cope with, especially for the first five, six months of the season.”
Gabriel suffered his injury earlier this week as Arsenal beat Fulham 2-1, but Arteta believes the club will be able to cope without him. “It was a tough one to digest because we just got Bukayo back and then we lost Gabi,” he admitted.
“So it was tough, but the team reacted like it has reacted all season. I’m really proud of that and we know that he’s going to be out for a while, so we need to find different solutions and keep competing the way we have been all season.
“We’ve come so far and now we have the most important, beautiful part of the season. We have to react to those things, and that means that other players are going to have opportunities to play and the team has to find other ways.
“It is a big miss undoubtedly, but we have the resources to cope with that. Ricky [Calafiori] is not fit, and that means in the last week or so we have lost four players and that’s obviously a big task.
“But let’s see how Ben [White] and Jurrien [Timber] are tomorrow. There’s a chance [they could be fit]. That’s it – we must keep playing and competing the way we have been.
“We have a few of those [calls], so we’re going to have to decide this evening or tomorrow very early in the morning which players we can play and for how long especially.
“There are a few [options] on the table. How far we have to go down that route, hopefully not that deep, but there are always options.”
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