Mikel Arteta has provided an injury update on Bukayo Saka and Mikel Merino ahead of our Carabao Cup semi-final second leg clash against Chelsea.
Bukayo suffered an injury during the warm-up to our 4-0 victory over Leeds United, and ahead our match versus the Blues, Mikel revealed the injury isn’t serious but will be assessed closely.
“We have to wait,” he said in his pre-match press conference. “Today he was better but we have to wait and see how he responds, and then make the decision.”
“It doesn’t look like something too serious. Whether he’s going to be available for tomorrow or the weekend, we’ll see.”
While Mikel didn’t rule Bukayo out of the clash at Emirates Stadium, our boss did provide an update on Merino, who will undergo surgery after sustaining a foot injury against Manchester United.
He said: “He needs to go through a procedure, which is not always positive. He’s a big player for us, a player that has such versatility and capacity to compete in various positions, and that’s a big blow.
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Every word from Arteta’s pre-Chelsea presser
“It’s a very rare injury so we have to wait and see once we have the surgery, how that reacts daily, obviously monitor it throughout the week for the surgery and see. I know Mikel is going to do absolutely everything that he possibly can to come back as quick as possible. But as well you have to respect the healing process and the fact that obviously it’s an injury that is quite rare.”
Mikel is speaking on transfer deadline day and when asked if he would dip into the market to replace our Spaniard, Mikel stated we are always active.
“When you lose a big player like this in the squad with four months to go and all the competitions to play for, you need to look and we need to do everything that we possibly can to see if we have a player that is available. If we don’t, we keep what we have.
“We have the departure of Ethan [Nwaneri] as well to Marseille for the right reasons, I believe, for the club, players and the team. Then the news of Mikel was very unexpected, especially for such a long time.
“So we are actively looking at options and we will continue to do that. My day will be the same as usual, I will be busier, and if we have a final solution, I will try to do it, and if we don’t, we will continue in the manner that we are now.”
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Medical update: Mikel Merino
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