William Saliba injury latest as Arsenal hold further tests

William Saliba will be assessed today to determine the severity of his injury problem, with conflicting messages coming from Arsenal about the problem.

Ahead of Arsenal’s match against Aston Villa on Saturday, there was concern for centre-back William Saliba.

The player had appeared to struggle with an injury in the latter stages of the Gunners’ match against Tottenham Hotspur, and he was then absent from pre-match training photos.

The bad news was confirmed when the team news was released for the Villa clash, with Arsenal writing that Saliba would miss out “with a minor issue”.

Yet that claim of a “minor” injury was somewhat undermined by Mikel Arteta in his post-match press conference, as he suggested the club were very worried about the problem.

“I think tomorrow we will have more information, we will have more tests on him and we will be more clear about it,” Arteta began.

“Yes, for sure (we are worried), especially with the numbers we have in the squad and looking at our bench. Very worried.”

An optimistic take on the quotes would be that Arteta meant any injury to Saliba is worrying, considering how short the team are at the back. But there are understandable fears that he meant the injury itself is a very worrying one.

As Arteta mentions, the club will now have tests on the injury, and there should be further updates in the coming days as Arsenal prepare to face GNK Dinamo on Wednesday night.

For what it’s worth, early reports on social media suggest Saliba’s injury should only keep him out for a week or two. But there’s little in the way of a concrete update right now.