Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta refuses to confirm whether any of the Gunners’ injured troupe will return for Sunday’s Premier League clash with Southampton.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta refused to confirm whether the Gunners would have any players back for their Premier League clash with Southampton at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon.
The North London giants are bidding to make it four victories in a row across all competitions in the 3pm kickoff, having overcome Bolton Wanderers, Leicester City and Paris Saint-Germain over the past couple of weeks.
The 2-0 triumph over the French champions in the Champions League saw Mikel Merino make his belated debut after a shoulder injury, but Arsenal lost key full-back Jurrien Timber to a muscle problem at half time.
The Gunners were already without Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee), Ben White (groin), Kieran Tierney (hamstring), Oleksandr Zinchenko (calf) and Martin Odegaard (ankle) for the visit of Luis Enrique‘s side, although the former was seen in training earlier this week.
Asked whether Tomiyasu, White and Timber could face the Saints in his pre-game press conference, Arteta revealed that all three are “close”, although he had to tinker with his training sessions to ensure that they could be involved.
Arteta provides update on five Arsenal injuries
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“We had to modify training for a lot of players. We’ve done the same today because of the load that they had, so it’s a decision to make this afternoon, whether to involve them, yes or no. They are close, and Tomiyasu as well is quite close to being involved, so good news,” Arteta said.
However, Tierney, Zinchenko and Odegaard are guaranteed to miss the visit of the Saints, although Arteta is optimistic that Zinchenko will be fit to face Bournemouth on October 19 following the international break.
The 42-year-old could not put a timeframe on Odegaard’s return from a serious ankle injury, though, adding: “Alex probably after the international break if everything goes well.
“He’s progressing really well. Martin is very difficult, I expected still with the boot and a lot of things and he’s working so hard and is feeling good and is pushing it so it’s difficult to give a timeline.”
Saturday’s visit of Southampton will see goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale quickly reunite with the club he made 89 appearances for between 2021 and 2024, establishing himself as Arteta’s first-choice goalkeeper for two seasons before losing his place to David Raya in 2023-24.
Arteta: ‘Ramsdale put his fingerprints on Arsenal’
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After spending most of last season on the bench, Ramsdale signed for the newly-promoted Saints in a £17.9m deal on transfer deadline day, and the 26-year-old will start in goal for Russell Martin‘s men at the Emirates.
Arteta revealed that he immediately phoned an ecstatic Ramsdale when his transfer went through, but their parting of ways was a particularly difficult one personally for him, adding: “I called him straight away when I got the news [of his transfer] and he was really happy.
“He is a player that we loved a lot, very charismatic and he really put his fingerprints here on the club with the way that he was. It’ll be very good to see him. I was very grateful for what he did. When we signed there was a lot of noise around him. We helped him to create an environment that he needed because we believed in his potential and he showed it.
“He won the respect and admiration of all of us. Then the circumstances changed because this is elite sport and that can happen. It was difficult to deal with that situation in a natural way so we decided to part ways and hopefully he is grateful as well.”
Arsenal sit third in the Premier League table before gameweek seven, behind Manchester City on goal difference and one point below Liverpool, who could open up a four-point lead by beating Crystal Palace in the lunchtime kickoff.
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