Arsenal: Mikel Arteta reveals timeline for William Saliba return as Gunners handed double injury boost
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Mikel Arteta is confident William Saliba will be fit for Arsenal’s huge showdown with Manchester City next week. Saliba injured his hamstring during last week’s north London derby and he missed Saturday’s draw with Aston Villa. The centre-back has been ruled out of Wednesday’s Champions League game at home to Dinamo Zagreb, too.
![[Arsenal FC Training Session And Press Conference - UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD7]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/21/14/29/Arsenal-FC-Training-Session-And-Press-Conference-UEFA-Champions-League-202425-League-Phase-MD7-v3cns.jpeg?quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
But asked if he hopes Saliba will be fit for when Arsenal host Manchester City on February 2, Arteta said: “Yes, I hope so yes. “He is evolving well, the last few days he was feeling much better already - but this game [against Dinamo] comes a little bit too early for him.”.
![[Ethan Nwaneri playing for Arsenal against Brighton]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/04/20/20/EthanNwaneriArsenal04012025.jpeg?quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
Arsenal are currently struggling with injuries in defence as Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu are also out. The pair are suffering with knee injuries and were not part of training on Tuesday afternoon. Arteta has been boosted, however, by the return of Ethan Nwaneri and Riccardo Calafiori.
Calafiori has missed the last three games due to injury and Nwaneri has been out since early January with a muscle issue. “It’s very positive news, we’ve missed them for a few weeks and they returned today for training so they will be available for the game,” said Arteta.
Nwaneri’s return is timely given Arsenal are light on options in attack. The 17-year-old scored in back-to-back games before his injury, emerging as an option on the right flank in the absence of Bukayo Saka. “It was a big setback because he (Nwaneri) was getting some consistency and more minutes,” said Arteta.
