Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed that Bukayo Saka will miss more than two months after undergoing surgery on his hamstring injury, although there is more encouraging news on Raheem Sterling’s return.
England winger Saka was forced off during the first half of Arsenal’s 5-1 win against Crystal Palace on December 21 and subsequently missed his side’s 1-0 victory at home to Ipswich Town on Friday night.
The narrow win moved the Gunners back up to second in the table, although they remain six points behind leaders Liverpool who also have a game in hand.
Arteta initially ruled Saka out for ‘many weeks’, which was a blow in itself, but the Arsenal manager has now said that he does not expect the attacker to return until March at the earliest.
“I would prefer to leave that with the doctor or himself but he had a procedure, everything went well but unfortunately he will be out for many, many weeks,” Arteta said after the victory over Ipswich.
Asked for a more definitive timeline on Saka’s return, Arteta added: “I said many weeks so I think it will be more than two months.
“I don’t know exactly how much longer, it depends on how the scar tissue starts to heal, the first week or so, mobility of that, let’s see, very difficult to say.”
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Arteta demands collective effort as Sterling return nears
Arteta also reiterated that he is not expecting an individual to single-handedly replace Saka’s attacking output.
“It’s always important because as well with Bukayo it doesn’t mean that we’re going to score three or four goals every game,” Arteta added.
“We have to rely on the team, that’s the biggest strength of us, we never rely on individuals scoring 25, 30 goals and we’ve managed to be very, very competitive still and we’re going to manage to do that.
“As I said, I think the replacement of B [Saka] is going to be the team. That unit in particular, having minutes together and asking different things, there were moments that flowed really well, there were moments where we can still have some work to do there and improve it and adapt to the qualities of the individuals. I’m certain we’re going to do that.’
Arteta, meanwhile, was more upbeat on the return of Raheem Sterling, who is currently sidelined with a knee problem.
“The news with Raz I think is better,” Arteta said.
“We have to see this week how he evolves but we expected the knee injury to probably take longer than actually the way the knee’s evolving in the last few days.
“Hopefully that’s good because we need him.”
Latest Arsenal news: Gunners told to forget Isak signing / proposed Cunha swoop
Former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit has told the Gunners to forget about signing a top Premier League striker who could lead them to their first top-flight title win in 20 years.
Alexander Isak is the name on the lips of most Gunners supporters as rumours continue to circulate of a big-money Arsenal swoop for the impressive Newcastle attacker.
However, Petit has explained why he believes his old club need to cast their net wider in their search for a new attacker instead.
Meanwhile, Arsenal are monitoring a Premier League striker whose team currently reside in the relegation zone, while two higher profile attackers are also coming under consideration, according to a report.
