September 15th 2023.
Mikel Arteta has attempted to allay any fears surrounding Gabriel Magalhaes' injury on international duty. The Brazilian had complained of muscle pain, but a scan revealed no injury and he was able to complete both of his country's matches. Despite this, Arteta says Arsenal will manage the defender carefully over the coming weeks.
"We try to always check the players and understand what happened," Arteta said. "We had good contact with the national team and Gabi had a little issue, but then he managed to play the second game. So it’s something that obviously for the next sequence of matches we’re going to have to be aware of."
In addition to Gabriel, Arteta is also delighted to have midfielder Mohamed Elneny back in contention. Elneny suffered a serious knee injury last season and has been working his way back into the team. Arteta believes the Egyptian can be an important 'glue player', one that can help bring the team together.
"He has been training with us, he had a little niggle in his hamstring a few weeks ago and he is back in training now," Arteta said. "Obviously it’s been a long-term injury, the latter stages of that rehab right now and then it’s about building momentum and game time with him. I always said he’s our glue player, he’s the one that brings everybody together, sticks everybody together, he’s a really important player for me in the squad and I am delighted to have him."
Finally, Arteta has dismissed any worries over Bukayo Saka's health, saying: "He's fine, he trained normally today. There's nothing to report. Every player has pains or issues. But [there is] nothing to worry about."
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