Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Bukayo Saka will be out of action for over two months following surgery on the hamstring injury he sustained during Arsenal’s 5-1 victory over Crystal Palace on December 21.
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Saka, who was forced off in the first half of that match, missed Arsenal’s 1-0 win against Ipswich Town on Friday. Initially, Arteta ruled him out for “many weeks,” but now the Arsenal manager has revealed that the star winger is unlikely to return before March.
“I’d prefer to leave that with the doctor or himself, but he had a procedure, everything went well,” Arteta said after Friday’s win. “Unfortunately, he will be out for many, many weeks.”
When asked for a more specific timeline, Arteta added: “I said many weeks, so I think it will be more than two months. I don’t know exactly how much longer—it depends on how the scar tissue starts to heal. The first week or so is critical. Let’s see; it’s very difficult to say.”
Matches Bukayo Saka Is Likely to Miss
- Brentford (A) – Premier League – Jan 1
- Brighton (A) – Premier League – Jan 4
- Newcastle (H) – Carabao Cup – Jan 7
- Man Utd (H) – FA Cup – Jan 12
- Tottenham (H) – Premier League – Jan 15
- Aston Villa (H) – Premier League – Jan 18
- Dinamo Zagreb (H) – Champions League – Jan 22
- Wolves (A) – Premier League – Jan 25
- Girona (A) – Champions League – Jan 29
- Man City (H) – Premier League – Feb 2
- Newcastle (A) – Carabao Cup – Feb 5
- Leicester (A) – Premier League – Feb 15
- West Ham (H) – Premier League – Feb 22
- Nottingham Forest (A) – Premier League – Feb 25
Despite Saka’s absence, Arteta emphasized that the team would not rely on any single player to replace the winger’s attacking contributions.
“It’s always important because with Bukayo, it doesn’t mean we’re going to score three or four goals every game,” Arteta explained. “We have to rely on the team—that’s our biggest strength. We never depend on individuals scoring 25 or 30 goals, and we’ve still managed to be very competitive.
“The replacement of B [Saka] is going to be the team. That unit, playing together and adapting to the qualities of each individual, will ensure we keep improving. I’m confident we’ll do that.”
On a brighter note, Arteta shared positive news regarding Raheem Sterling, who has been sidelined with a knee injury.
“The news with Raz, I think, is better,” Arteta said. “We have to see this week how he evolves, but we expected the knee injury to take longer. The way the knee’s been evolving in the last few days is promising. Hopefully, that’s good because we need him.”
Arsenal will look to navigate the challenges ahead without their star winger, relying on collective effort as they aim to maintain their momentum across multiple competitions.
