William Saliba walks after Arsenal’s injury (Photo: Alex Panling/Getty Images)
The severity of William Saliba’s injuries has yet to be confirmed, according to journalist and Arsenal expert Charles Watts.
Speaking exclusively Catch off side For his latest weekly column, Watts explained that Mikel Arteta is likely to address the story about Saliba at a press conference later this week.
For now, we know that before the international break, we had to strip Saliba pretty early in Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to Liverpool.
French media says that France International could be set in three to four weeks, but Watts claims that it has not been confirmed by the club yet to him.
This probably only gives Arsenal fans a faint glow of hope that Saliba’s injuries aren’t as serious as reported in some quarters.
William Saliba’s latest injuries
Watts discussed Saliba’s injuries and said, “Of course, the absence of William Saliba is a blow. He is one of the best centre-backs in the world and is part of the best centre-back partnership in the world anyway.
“So I want him to always fit and be available, especially at this stage in the season when Arsenal has a lot of tricky early fixtures to navigate.
“I have seen reports from France about the possibility of a three- to four-week absence due to an ankle issue he raised against Liverpool, but that’s not something I’ve confirmed with me yet, so I still don’t know if that time frame is correct.
“So we’ll see what happened and how quickly he recovered. Mikel Arteta has no doubts about the situation at this Friday’s press conference.”
Christian Mosquera can cover Saliba
That match at Liverpool ended with a loss, but Christian Mosquera made an impressive change after being dropped down in place of the injured Saliba.
The talented young Spaniard was thrown into the deep edges, but he produced a solid and gentle performance.
Mosquera joined Arsenal from Valencia in the summer, and it appears he can play a more important role than initially expected.
Arsenal fans hope Saliba will return soon, but the club clearly did a good job of bringing such a promising young defender to cover in that position.