A worrying update on the fitness of William Saliba has concerned Arsenal fans as the Gunners begin their title run-in with a home game against Leeds.
The 22-year-old French centre-back, who has played a crucial role for Mikel Arteta‘s side this season, suffered a back injury in their Europa League clash against Sporting CP on March 16.
Arteta said he felt Saliba had escaped with a minor setback after the full-time whistle, but it soon emerged that the injury was worse than first feared.
In fact, reports have emerged that the defender is set to miss their Premier League clash against Leeds on Saturday and possibly beyond.
A report from football.london suggests Saliba will be absent for this weekend’s clash after missing training at their London Colney base on Thursday.
In addition to those fears, it is currently unclear when he will return to the first-team squad, although GOAL claim he is a ‘major doubt’ to face Liverpool next weekend.
After those reports involving Saliba emerged, Arsenal fans have been fearing the worst over his fitness as the Gunners prepare for a tough fixture list against the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea.
One supporter said: “Regarding Saliba, classic Arteta mind games. I hope and pray,” while another wrote: “Not great that Saliba is a ‘major doubt’ for Liverpool.”
A third commented: “If Saliba might be out for a long time then its time we get behind Rob Holding. Stop overthinking formations and trust in Holdini.”
A fourth added: “Without Partey and Saliba…the leeds game will be very hard to win.”
Thomas Partey takes part in training ahead of Arsenal’s game against Leeds on Saturday but William Saliba misses the session 🔴 pic.twitter.com/3a3zSQnUIe
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 30, 2023
Saliba, who has made 39 appearances for club and country this season, will be a huge miss for the Gunners.
Last month, Mikel Arteta praised the French defender for answering questions that were raised at the start of the season.
“The first question was how the player is going to reintegrate into our dynamic after being out for so long,” said Arteta.
“Is there some frustration there, something personal between, for example, between me and the player because he could not understand that?
“Or his environment, his expectations coming back or the amount that we paid for him, his age, is it the same to do it in France as it is to do it in this League for Arsenal because you don’t have 21-year-old defenders at the top level in England?
“There were a lot of question marks and he went with all of them, ticking them off and giving us every reason to be confident that he was a great player for us.”
In other injury-related news, Thomas Partey did take part in training on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s game and is expected to play against Javi Gracia’s side.
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