By Frank Ulom
LONDON (CONVERSEER) – Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has provided an injury update on Gabriel Magalhães and Riccardo Calafiori ahead of clash against Tottenham Hotspur.
Recall that Gabriel was forced off with an injury in Brazil’s 2-0 win over Senegal at the Emirates Stadium during the November International break, and Arteta revealed he would be out for weeks.
“Gabi unfortunately picked up an injury with the Brazil national team and he’s going to be out for weeks,” Arteta said in his pre-match press conference, adding, “We need to have another scan next Wednesday, and we’ll have the timeline probably much clearer than we have at the moment.
“It’s clearly a blow because he’s our leader in our backline and, to me, it’s never a positive thing. The good thing is that we have very good options and we need to stand up now and do the job.”
Meanwhile, Calafiori missed the international break with Italy and the manager has also given an update on the left-back.
READ ALSO: Vendors, athletes outraged as Governor Otu cancels marathon
He said: “He wasn’t available [for the international break], he’s been carrying a few things and we had to bring him back. He hasn’t trained yet. Tomorrow we have another training session and we’ll see how he is.”
Martin Odegaard, Noni Madueke, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli, and Viktor Gyokeres are all longer-term absentees who did not go on international break with their respective nations.
Asked about their possible availability, Arteta said: “We’ve put in a lot of energy during the international break, with all the medical staff as well, to try to bring them as quickly as possible.
“So tomorrow we have another training session, see how some of them are feeling, whether it’s a bit too close for this game, or we feel that they can make a contribution in the game. So tomorrow we have more clarity.”
