Mikel Arteta has provided an update on the fitness of several first-team players ahead of our clash with Liverpool at Emirates Stadium on Thursday.
The boss was asked about several members of his squad in his pre-match press conference, including Kai Havertz, who is nearing a return to action.
“We are monitoring obviously his load, he has been out for a long time for two different reasons and he is very close,” Mikel said at the Sobha Realty Training Centre. “He trained this morning again and hopefully we are going to have him available in the best version of Kai Havertz.”
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While Kai is nearing a return to action, there will be a little longer to wait for the returns of defensive duo Riccardo Calafiori and Cristhian Mosquera.
“They are out again,” the boss reported, “I think [they’ll return] pretty soon, they have to go to the last stage of the rehab. If everything goes well, hopefully very soon they will be available for selection.”
In the absence of Riccardo and Cristhian, summer signing Piero Hincapie has stepped up in his first season in the Premier League, as both a left-back and central defender.
Mikel has been “very impressed” with what he’s seen from the Ecuadorian, who joined on deadline day from Bayer Leverkusen.
“Obviously he came in very, very late in the market, without pre-season, and after surgery as well,” Mikel assessed. “He’s been immense for everything that we ask him to do; he’s fulfilled that in various roles as well.
“I think it’s been a big boost for the team and another step in terms of what he can bring to the team.”
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