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Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Bukayo Saka is recovering well from his injury setback. Hopefully, this will come as a boost to Arsenal.
Arsenal has never had it easy with injuries. This feels like a cop-out, considering the same can be said for almost every club. However, there is something quite striking about Arsenal's injury record, particularly during crucial stages of the season, that rings alarm bells to supporters.
That said, none of us can act surprised that Bukayo Saka is injured. While it's easy to forget (Arteta certainly does), Saka is still a young player. The reason this is surprising is because of the workload he is asked to produce, acting like one of Arsenal's more senior players.
Naturally, this was bound to have an impact on his body. While Saka did well to play through those consistent knocks, even if he had to limp off the pitch one or a hundred times, it was going to catch up to him sooner or later.
And now, to nobody's surprise, his consistent play-time has caught up to him. He's been on the treatment table for the whole of this calendar year and his absence has been felt. So, when is Saka coming back? That's the question on every Arsenal fan's mind.
Mikel Arteta provides a positive Bukayo Saka injury update
Well, there is no definitive answer, but Mikel Arteta gave it his best shoot. In fact, the manager's comments can only come as good news for the Arsenal faithful. In his own words, Mikel Arteta said: “[Saka]'s getting closer (to injury return). He’s stepping up and making very good progress. Let’s see when we decide to throw him in, how he reacts and how fit he can get quickly”.
Look, we could do with Bukayo Saka coming back as soon as possible. I don't need a degree or experience in the game to tell you that. It's strikingly obvious that Arteta is struggling to name a starting eleven, even if he's done a good job of masking it with his usual experiments.
However, it's important that Saka isn't rushed back. That would have the opposite effect that Arsenal are trying to achieve, by potentially making his injury worse. That's not to say I'm impatiently looking at the clock, though.