Mikel Arteta confirms injury boost for Arsenal star but ‘incredible talent’ out for two months

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta provided an injury update on the first-team squad following the 1-0 win over Ipswich Town in the Premier League.

The Gunners picked up their third victory in all competitions at the Emirates Stadium last night.

It was a comfortable win for the London giants with Ipswich failing to test the goalkeeper.

After the 1-0 triumph, Arteta provided an update on Bukayo Saka.

The Spaniard said that the ‘incredible talent‘ could be out for more than two months after undergoing surgery for a hamstring injury.

He told Arsenal.com: “I would prefer to leave that to the doctor himself. But he had a procedure. Everything went well. But, unfortunately he will be out for many, many weeks.

“I said many weeks, so I think it will be more than two months. I don’t know exactly how much longer, I think it will depend, you know.

“How the scar tissue starts to heal the first week or so. The mobility of that. Let’s see. It’s very difficult to say.”

However, there was good news on Raheem Sterling who could be available in the short-term.

It was initially feared that Sterling could be out for several weeks with a knee problem, but Arteta said that the situation is evolving better.

The Chelsea loanee will be assessed this week and Arteta acknowledged that the club need his services with Saka out for some time.

He added: “Yes, the news with Raz, I think it’s better. We have to see this week how he evolves.

“But we expect it, the knee injury to probably take longer than actually the way the knee is evolving in the last few days. So, hopefully that’s good because we need him.”

Gabriel Martinelli started on the right wing against Ipswich in the absence of Saka and Sterling.

The Brazil international did not register a shot in the game but showed some promise with his crosses.

There was no one in the box to capitalise. The Gunners will need to adapt without Saka, and Martinelli’s crosses could be effective after more training sessions.

Arsenal climbed to second in the league standings after yesterday’s win, but they remain six points behind leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand.

The club have no room for errors in the coming weeks and need to build a long winning streak to keep up the pressure on Arne Slot’s side in the New Year.