“The procedure went well”
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Bukayo Saka is unlikely to be available to Arsenal for the next 15 games. The Gunners’ most valuable player and sixth most valuable footballer in the world, with a market value of 150 million euros, had to undergo thigh surgery. “He had a procedure. “Everything went well, but unfortunately he will be out for many, many weeks,” said coach Mikel Arteta, according to the Times.
“I think it will be more than two months. I don’t know exactly how long. It will depend on how the scar tissue begins to heal.” Saka missed the 1-0 win against Ipswich Town on Friday evening and there are probably nine more league games to come. Saka will also be out of the Champions League and the two English cup competitions, the EFL Cup and the FA Cup.
A blessing in disguise are the replacement candidates available to Arteta. This includes homegrown Ethan Nwaneri, who has already played in Saka’s favorite position on the right wing and was recently able to increase his market value from 12 million to 30 million euros.
Saka is missing from Arsenal – Nwaneri, Martinelli and Sterling as backups
Transfermarkt’s Premier League expert Ben Littlemore said of the 17-year-old: “Nwaneri is one of the most exciting young players in England and arguably the most talented to emerge from the Gunners’ academy in a long time. He broke the record for youngest Premier League player when he came on as a substitute in the 3-0 win against Brentford aged just 15 years, five months and 28 days, and he has regularly flashed his enormous potential this season. It is expected that Nwaneri will become an important player for the North London club in the future.”
Against Ipswich, 23-year-old left winger Gabriel Martinelli came into play on the right and Chelsea loanee Raheem Sterling will soon be available again. “We have to see how he develops this week,” said Arteta. “We probably expected the knee injury to last longer than it has developed over the last few days. Hopefully that’s good news because we need him.” The 30-year-old veteran has been more of a follower so far, amassing 426 minutes in eleven appearances across all competitions.
With Saka, Arteta is missing his top scorer – the England international was involved in 22 goals in 24 games. In the Premier League, the Gunners are second in the table, six points behind Liverpool and one point ahead of Chelsea and two points ahead of the surprise team from Nottingham (to the table).