Arsenal injury latest with Arteta ‘hopeful’ of Saka involvement | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta says he is hopeful that Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz will be able to play against Bournemouth on Saturday.

Saka returned to Arsenal early from international duty after suffering an injury while playing for England, while Havertz did not travel with Germany during the break because of a knee problem.

But Arteta is hoping both will be fit enough to play this weekend.

“It’s not a serious injury,” Arteta said when asked about Saka. “He’s done a few things in the last few days.

“Obviously he was not fit enough to play with the national team in the second game but we are hopeful. We have a training session this afternoon, he did some bits yesterday, so let’s see if he can make it in time.

“Havertz had a few issues and we’ve been dealing with that. We have very good communication with the national team and the manager, and they understood the situation.

“Obviously we modified everything we could do here and again, if he trains well today he’s got a good chance to be fit and available.”

Gabriel Martinelli is a doubt for the game after sustaining an injury on international duty with Brazil and Arteta says he does not know whether the winger can be involved against Bournemouth.

He said: “Gabby landed here yesterday afternoon so we’ve had a very short time to be with him.

“Yesterday he went outside to do a little bit and we’ll see how he’s feeling and today will be another step to understand if we want to take the risk and if he’s fit because I know what the player is going to say, that he’ll be fit for sure.”

Meanwhile, Arteta says Ben White, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Jurrien Timber are all “close” to being able to play.

“They are quite close, the three of them. Today we are going to try and push and see how it is.

“We are struggling with the numbers especially a bit on our right side but hopefully we have some positive news today and we have some players back for tomorrow.”

Martin Odegaard is not yet ready to return but is progressing well in his recovery from an ankle injury.

“He’s not going to be fit for this game. He’s in that later stage of the rehab, he’s already doing a lot of stuff.

“He needs to clear some markers. He needs to clear certain things to be comfortable, especially with the ball and I think next week will be crucial to understand how close he is.”

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