Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has confirmed that young star Ethan Nwaneri will be out for a 'few weeks'. Nwaneri's muscle injury comes after the 17-year-old midfielder scored in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Brighton. Arsenal's academy product was expected to become a regular after Bukayo Saka tore a hamstring last month, ruling him out until around March.
Arteta said of Nwaneri ahead of Tuesday's Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg clash with Newcastle: "Unfortunately he has picked up an injury and is going to be out for a few weeks.". After Tuesday's clash, the Gunners host Manchester United in the FA Cup third round. Then it's the small matter of the north London derby on Wednesday, January 15. Arsenal also play Aston Villa, Dinamo Zagreb, Wolves and Girona before the end of the month - all of which Nwaneri could miss.
One positive for Arteta is that Kai Havertz could be in contention to face Newcastle, as he added: "Hopefully, but I don't want to say too much.". The Gunners have suffered injury after injury this term and asked whether he'd seen anything like this throughout his career, Arteta replied: "Probably not.".
Injuries in the forward line have added to the belief that Arsenal need to sign a striker in January, with Newcastle's Alexander Isak reportedly on their shortlist. Arteta said of the Sweden international: "Yeah obviously he's a top player, he's in top form scoring a lot of goals. [We will] try to minimise the strength of the opposition.".
