A quadriceps problem picked up in Wednesday's 2-2 Champions League stalemate against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena has left Arsenal worried that Bukayo Saka may be absent for no fewer than six weeks.
Saka, who is 25, had to leave the pitch during the contest. On Friday afternoon, the club's medics will put him through an MRI scan to establish how serious the problem is.
BBC Sport reports that fluid around the injured muscle has made it difficult to identify the full extent of the problem. Initial checks have led the club's medical staff to expect Saka to be out for at least six weeks, with a longer absence also possible.
Should that first diagnosis prove correct, several key games will go ahead without him at Arsenal. England's upcoming UEFA Nations League ties with Croatia and Spain would be off the table for him as well.
Arteta's Comment on Saka's Injury
“We need many more scans and the opinions of specialists,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said. “If a player has to leave the pitch because he cannot walk without pain and his movement is limited, that is a worrying sign. Let's be patient so we can give a definitive assessment.”
Arteta added: “He’ll have another MRI because there was quite a lot of fluid in the area, which made it difficult to understand the extent of the injury. We’ll know more tomorrow.”
Saka is already ruled out of Saturday's Premier League fixture with Everton. Arsenal sit second in the table and are at home, where they will try to cut the three-point deficit to leaders Manchester City.
Saka will require further scans and could miss as many as eight weeks, which is a serious setback for Arteta and Arsenal.
Arteta had recently been talking up the way the winger had shifted his positioning so that he could score more often for the Gunners, and Saka has netted four times across 11 outings this term.
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How Saka's Recent Injuries Have Taken Their Toll
Yet with yet another muscle problem now sidelining him, doubts are growing over whether he still has the physical durability that once made him an automatic pick for Arsenal.
Aged 25, he was hampered last season by problems with his Achilles, hip and hamstring, while the season before that he underwent surgery on a hamstring injury that kept him out for 101 days.
England also carefully managed his minutes at the World Cup in the summer, and Arteta admitted that Saka's robustness and availability has “certainly been different in the last year or so”.
In the summer Arsenal tried and failed to land a world-class forward to strengthen their attack, missing out in their chases for Vinicius Jr and Julian Alvarez.
Greece international Christos Tzolis did arrive, but he is also nursing an injury at present.
As a result, their remaining options out wide are Noni Madueke, Eberechi Eze and 16-year-old Max Dowman.
Dowman has seen little playing time so far this season, but Arteta spoke in glowing terms about the youngster's talent and his capacity to change games.
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