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Mikel Arteta has provided an update on Ben White's recovery from injury ahead of Arsenal's Premier League trip to Brighton on Saturday evening.
The Gunners have been without White since the November international break after it was decided that the defender would undergo minor knee surgery to fix a nagging issue. White had reportedly been playing through pain at the start of 2024/25 which saw his performance levels suffer.
In his absence, Arsenal have extended their unbeaten run to 12 games and are just about keeping pace with Liverpool in the title race. Still, the return of White will come as a big boost for the Gunners.
Mikel Arteta reveals when Ben White could return from injury
Arteta says Ben White could return to action before the end of this month.
— Simon Collings (@sr_collings) January 3, 2025
Arteta has finally supplied an update on White's recovery and offered a time frame for his potential return.
When asked if White could return before the end of January during his pre-match presser on Friday, the boss said (via the Standard): “It might be a possibility, but obviously he hasn’t done anything yet with the team.
“The knee looks good, he has reacted really well the first few weeks, everything is going smoothly and now he needs to start to load and that knee needs to start to get through many more things that, up to now he hasn’t been able to do, but hopefully he’s good," he added.
Arteta did also say he doesn't know exactly when White will return to the fold, and although he said that a comeback before the end of the month is a possibility, it seems as if Arsenal will be without the full-back for a little while yet.
Jurrien Timber has started all but one of the Gunners' Premier League and Champions League outings since White underwent surgery, with Arteta also using Thomas Partey at right-back to offer the Dutchman respite. The Ghanaian is expected to start in defence at Brighton with Timber suspended.
Takehiro Tomiyasu would've been another versatile full-back option ready for deployment in White's absence, but the Japanese international has continued to struggle with a knee injury which has limited him to one appearance all season.
Discussing Tomiyasu's fitness, Arteta said: “Tomiyasu again has done some stuff on the pitch but it’s been a long-term injury and we need to see how he reacts”.
I wouldn't be surprised if we saw Ben White in action before the former Bologna man.