William Saliba claimed his ‘back has gone’ in injury blow to Arsenal | OneFootball

Arsenal centre-back William Saliba reportedly claimed he suffered a back injury during France’s World Cup semi-final against Spain.

The defender has been managing back issues since last season, and Arsenal will be concerned by this latest development.

Saliba was withdrawn from the game and is likely to be unavailable for the final or third-place play-off game depending on tonight’s result.

The France international has featured in six matches at the World Cup, but it appears he has played his last game at the tournament.

Arsenal will hope Saliba is available to feature when the season starts, but he could miss a large chunk of pre-season.

They are also sweating on the fitness of Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice.

The England duo are available to face Argentina tomorrow night, and manager Mikel Arteta will hope they emerge unscathed.

Arsenal cannot afford to head into the new season with several injury blows and will be desperate for some good news.

They have signed Piero Hincapie in a permanent deal from Bayer Leverkusen for £34.5 million after his loan spell last term.

French goalkeeper Illan Meslier has also joined for free after Leeds United released him.

Leandro Trossard is set to join Besiktas in a £17m deal, and more departures are on the cards as Arsenal look to tweak their squad for the new season.