Mikel Arteta has issued an update on the fitness of our first-team squad ahead of our Champions League clash with Kairat Almaty.
The boss was first asked whether defensive duo William Saliba and Jurrien Timber will be involved after they missed training on Tuesday morning.
“No, those are not (available),” the boss said at the Sobha Realty Training Centre, “it’s a good opportunity now that we make a different kind of work with them to get them in the best possible condition for the weekend hopefully.”
As well as William and Jurrien’s absence on Wednesday, we’ll also be without Mikel Merino and Declan Rice, who both serve suspensions having picked up three yellow cards in the first seven league phase matches.
With four first-team regulars out, Mikel will be looking to use his squad, something he’s more than prepared to do.
“It’s been like this for the first seven months of the competition. Whether it was with this competition, domestic league and Champions League, or with international players playing for their countries as well.
“There is nothing new. The good news is that we have some players back as well now that are going to be helping us.
“We are used to it, so that’s never going to be an excuse.”
Our squad this season is the biggest we’ve had since the boss took over in 2019, and he’s enjoying the challenge of managing and working with such a big group of quality players.
“It’s very enjoyable and they make it enjoyable for the type of characters that we have but as well the way they live their profession and how much they want to win with us.
“That’s the only way, it’s not about numbers, it’s about the quality of the numbers and the players that we have, the same with the staff.”
Read more
Everything you need to know about Kairat Almaty
Copyright 2026 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
