Mikel Arteta reveals the extent of Arsenal’s midfield nightmare after late pursuit of Douglas Luiz
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Mikel Arteta reveals the full extent of Arsenal’s midfield nightmare, with Mohamed Elneny out for ‘months’, Thomas Partey ‘weeks’ from returning and Martin Odegaard a fitness doubt… after late failed pursuit of Douglas Luiz
- Arsenal are facing an injury crisis ahead of their match with Manchester United
- Mohamed Elneny and Thomas Partey are dealing with long-term issues
- Captain Martin Odegaard picked up a knock on Wednesday and is a doubt
- Oleksandar Zinchenko and Aaron Ramsdale could also miss the game on Sunday
- Arsenal failed with three deadline day bids for Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz
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Arsenal have multiple injury concerns as they go to Manchester United looking to make it six for six in the Premier League this season, including whether Aaron Ramsdale or Martin Odegaard are fit.
Oleksandr Zinchenko is set to miss the trip to Old Trafford as he has not trained with the team, but Mikel Arteta is hopeful Ramsdale and Odegaard can train on Saturday.
‘They have been assessed (Odegaard, Ramsdale),’ Arteta said. ‘We will see. Hopefully they’ll be available to train with the team.
Mikel Arteta has admitted his Arsenal side are currently facing an injury crisis in midfield
Midfielders Mohamed Elneny (left) and Thomas Partey (right) are both dealing with injuries
‘Unfortunately Alex still hasn’t been able to train with the team yet. After missing two games and not being able to train with the team unfortunately that’s the situation that we have.’
On Mohamed Elneny and Thomas Partey, he added: ‘With Mo, we are talking months. With Thomas, weeks, and even shorter than that I hope.’
Their injury issues in midfield is why Arteta was disappointed not to have nabbed Douglas Luiz from Aston Villa, despite their final bid of £25million late on deadline day.
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard picked up a knock in the Gunners’ win over Aston Villa
Aston Villa rejected three bids from Arsenal for midfielder Douglas Luiz on deadline day
‘We had a lot of things still to do in the squad,’ Arteta said. ‘The club has done a phenomenal job to bring in players that we wanted. Unfortunately in the last 72 hours, Thomas and Mo got injured and we had to react in the market.
‘We tried and at the end of the day we have to bring in the players we feel are right but we didn’t manage to do it.’
Despite their injuries, Arteta did talk about Old Trafford not having a fear factor, as the manager insisted Arsenal can win there on Sunday.
When asked about Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who signed for Chelsea on deadline day, Arteta was respectful but did not want to discuss the striker he previously sold.
