Bukayo Saka, Arsenal’s winger, was forced to leave the pitch within the first 10 minutes of Wednesday’s 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich in the Champions League due to a thigh injury. According to reports, the injury could keep him out of action for at least two months. Manager Mikel Arteta said before the home Premier League match against Everton that “some more scans and opinions from specialists” are needed.
Arteta highlighted his concern, stating that “when a player has to leave the pitch, he is struggling to walk without pain, his movement is limited, these are not good signs”. Saka, who became a regular starter for Arsenal’s first team as a teenager, has already played close to 400 matches for club and country. This heavy workload early in his career may have contributed to his injury problems in recent years.
The 25-year-old forward missed nearly four months of the 2024/25 season due to a serious thigh injury and was hampered last season by an Achilles tendon problem, which limited his impact for England at the World Cup. Arteta added that “we really need to understand now, when he returns, whenever that is, how are we going to manage that load again? What is possible today to maintain an impact on the team?”
Saka’s absence could be a major blow to Arsenal’s hopes of retaining the Premier League title. Since his Premier League debut in 2019, the Gunners’ win percentage is more than 10 percent lower without the forward. However, Saka’s absence could open the door for 16-year-old Max Dowman to get more minutes with the team.
Dowman became the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history when he scored against Everton last season. Arteta commented: “There is something inevitable about returning to that memory and the feeling of the moment. This is with us, and this will stay in that stadium for a very long time”. He added that Dowman “is training, and every time he has had a moment to play, he is showing that he is a player who will impact the game, so he will certainly get minutes”.
Source: France 24 Live News