Mikel Arteta provides update on Bukayo Saka’s injury recovery | OneFootball

Arsenal’s injury concerns continue as Mikel Arteta provides a crucial update on Bukayo Saka’s recovery.

Photo via Arsenal.com

Mikel Arteta has moved to temper expectations around Bukayo Saka’s return, insisting that the winger remains in the early stages of his rehabilitation and that no timeline has been set for his comeback.

With Arsenal preparing to face Leicester City this weekend, Arteta addressed speculation about a rushed return for the 22-year-old in light of Kai Havertz‘s season-ending injury.

“I don’t know, we have a long-term injury, so what is faster?” Arteta told reporters. “In a 10-day injury, three days is a lot because it’s 30%, but in three months, a week is probably not that much.

“It’s too early, he’s in an early stage of the rehab, so when we get a little bit closer and he starts to do more demanding stuff and has more load, we will see where he is. There’s no setback, he’s fine.”

That assessment matches recent reports suggesting that Saka’s return is pencilled in for the second half of March, though a realistic return to the pitch may not come until April.

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Asked about Havertz’s injury, Arteta said, “We were having a great camp in Dubai recharging, training, having some time off and connecting again with nature in a different environment, and then the injury happened in a very unexpected way. Certainly it is a big blow because of the injuries that we have but fortunately, we’ve been through a lot this season.

“We have played without Gabriel, without Saliba, Ben White all season, Tomiyasu all season, Calafiori for two months, Merino for two months, Martin Odegaard for two months, Bukayo Saka for three months, Gabriel Jesus… all of them. So that’s it, that’s the challenge ahead. I love it and look forward because we are still where we are with all the things I mentioned on top of playing four times with 10 men, blah blah blah. Let’s see what the team is made of.”

So what was that ‘unexpected way?’ “He was going to stop a shot after a set-piece, then he stretched the leg and felt his hamstring.”

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Asked what he thought was behind all the injury problems this season, Arteta said, “You cannot prove it, so the evidence we can provide is very limited in many aspects and every case is very different.

“Obviously some of them we know are based on load and minutes, that’s inevitable. We have players who have been injured and who have played 130 games in the last two seasons, so in the end it’s an accident waiting to happen if you continue to load and load.

“Is it this season, is it the accumulation of that, is it the stress of that, is it luck, is it preparation, is it methodology? There are a lot of factors, and it’s very difficult to point at something, but the schedule is super demanding and for certain players, especially explosive players, it becomes a real issue.”

Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images

The injuries, Arteta admitted, leave him with “a big pain in the tummy, that’s the first feeling. First of all when you see a player in pain it’s a really bad feeling. Then you think ‘not again’, then you realise you have no time to do that.

“Support the player, start to look forward and at the alternative and how the team is going to be able to continue to perform. Convince yourself about that because the players need to feel that belief as well. You can use cases and situations we’ve been in in the past. We’ve done it, great – so if we’ve done it before, we can do it again.”

There was, however, some good news, with Ben White set to return to the squad this weekend for the first time in three months.