Injured Arsenal duo return to training ahead of Dinamo clash

Arsenal duo Ethan Nwaneri and Riccardo Calafiori have returned to training ahead of the Gunners’ Champions League match against GNK Dinamo on Wednesday.

Tom Canton reports that Ethan Nwaneri and Riccardo Calafiori are both in training with Arsenal following their recent injury setbacks.

Champions League clubs hold open training sessions with the media the day before matches, so the Gunners couldn’t hide Nwaneri and Calafiori’s involvement ahead of Wednesday’s match against GNK Dinamo.

On the other side of things, the session revealed that Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White, and William Saliba remain absent from training.

Saliba’s absence is no surprise, as reports suggest he’s expected to miss the next three games. As for Tomiyasu and White, there’s little clarity on the exact timeframe of their comebacks, but they should be back in the next few weeks.

Nwaneri’s return is obviously a big one, though whether he’s ready to start matches again at this stage is still unclear.

With Bukayo Saka out until at least March, Arsenal lack a left-footed option on the right-wing. Nwaneri had scored in his last appearance in the position, but he was forced off early with his current injury.

Calafiori’s comeback is less urgent, given Myles Lewis-Skelly’s form and the availability of Kieran Tierney and Oleksandr Zinchenko. Given the Italian international’s injury history, that’s a good thing, as Arsenal won’t want to rush him back onto the pitch.

Mikel Arteta may well give an update on all five recent injury absentees in his press conference on Tuesday afternoon, but we’ll get official confirmation of Nwaneri and Calafiori’s availability when the squad is named on Wednesday night.