Arsenal head into a busy week of fixtures with mixed emotions, as Mikel Arteta confirmed fresh injury concerns for Noni Madueke, Piero Hincapié, and Kai Havertz. The Spaniard admitted the timing was far from ideal, but insisted the squad would find solutions as the season gathers pace, Softfootball reports.
Madueke, who had been enjoying a promising run of form, was forced off at half-time in Arsenal’s draw against Manchester City.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta addressed the media at the Sobha Realty Training Centre ahead of his side’s Carabao Cup clash, via the team’s website, he revealed that the winger had felt discomfort early in the game, tried to continue, but could not shake off the pain, he said;
Yes, it looks he’s going to be out for a few weeks. We don’t know yet, we’re probably going to have to scan him next week again. He felt something at the beginning of the match, he tried to carry on, and at half-time, he was too sore, so let’s see.
While there is hope the setback won’t keep him sidelined for months, the manager admitted losing the England international at this point in the campaign is a big blow, saying;
We hope so. As I said, we need to scan him again to see the real extent of the injury, but it doesn’t look too bad.
The Gunners also face a short-term concern with Piero Hincapié. The defender, still building fitness after his summer surgery, suffered a groin issue in training. Arteta said the Ecuadorian will be assessed further in the coming days, he stated;
Piero picked up a little groin injury. We’ll have to assess him again in the next few days… he didn’t really have a pre-season after the surgery that he had.
Havertz, however, is expected to be out much longer. The German has been sidelined with a knee problem and although his recovery is going well, Arteta admitted fans will have to be patient before seeing him back in action, he said;
With Kai, we know that it will be months with him. I don’t know if it can be weeks, you never know because this is Kai and he’s a different specimen. We really miss him. Hopefully, he will be back, and back for the long term as well.
Despite the setbacks, Arteta was quick to point out that not all the injuries were down to preparation or overload. He described many as freak incidents, noting that players like Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard picked up problems in unusual circumstances, he stated;
We looked at everything. The one with Noni is bad luck… with Kai, something similar. With Ben White, with Martin, very similar. With Bukayo, it was more of a muscular injury with the hamstring, maybe something to look more in depth, and we absolutely did that.
Arsenal will be in action tomorrow against Port Vale in the third round of the Carabao Cup, the team via its official X handle, shared an exclsive footage of the gunner’s boss giving real time update to the press, see video below;
The Carabao Cup, Arteta explained, now provides a valuable chance to rotate the squad and give minutes to players who deserve more action. He singled out Kepa Arrizabalaga as one of those who could benefit.
Yes, it’s a lot of players that are going to take part in that, and they fully deserve the minutes. Kepa, for sure, is one of them. His attitude, the way he supports us in every aspect of his role… they deserve more minutes than what they’re getting.
Despite injury frustrations and outside narratives, Arteta struck a defiant tone. His message was clear, Arsenal have the quality, depth, and belief to compete on all fronts, and the Carabao Cup remains another chance to showcase that ambition.
