LONDON — Bukayo Saka will be absent for more than two months after surgery on a hamstring injury, says Mikel Arteta.
Saka limped out of Arsenal’s 5–1 win over Crystal Palace on December 21, the final blow of a season in which the Gunners suffered a series of injuries to key players. Nothing will be felt more deeply than the absence of their leading chance creator, assist giver, ball passer and shot taker.
“He has had a procedure, everything went well, but unfortunately he will be out for many, many weeks,” said Arteta, who added when pressed for a timetable: “I said many weeks. I think it will take more than two months. I don’t know exactly how long it will last. I think it will depend on the scar tissue that starts to worsen in the first week, and its mobility.”
Even if Arteta’s assessment is slightly too conservative, an absence of just two months would see Saka miss a further nine Premier League games at a time when Arsenal need a winning run to land Liverpool. He would also miss the remainder of the matches in the Champions League stage, the knockout round if Arsenal have to play it, and could even be doubtful for the round of 16.
Saka wasn’t the only striker missing from Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Ipswich. Raheem Sterling was missing from the second consecutive match selection in the Premier League due to a knee injury. However, things are going encouragingly for Arsenal.
“I think the news with Raz is better,” said Arteta. “We’ll have to see how he progresses this week, but we expected the injury to probably last longer than the way the knee has progressed in recent days. Hopefully that’s good because we need it.”
Sterling has struggled to impress since joining on loan from Chelsea on deadline day, but given Saka’s absence there will undoubtedly be opportunities coming his way to turn the tide. Replacing Saka will certainly be more than a 30-year-old who appears to be in decline, but Arsenal, deprived of one of the Premier League’s best players, will need all the hope they can get.