Arsenal Injury Update: Konsa Returns, Saka Out Until December
Arsenal’s treatment room is finally beginning to empty – and the timing could hardly be better.
Mikel Arteta takes his Premier League champions into their final game before the international break chasing a fifth straight league win since that bruising 3-0 defeat at Brighton. Hull City visit the Emirates on Saturday, and for once the pre-match briefing brought more good news than bad.
Here’s where Arsenal stand on the injury front ahead of the Tigers’ visit.
Ezri Konsa ready to go
The biggest boost came with Ezri Konsa.
The defender was back in full training this morning after giving Arsenal a scare in midweek. He felt his left knee early in the 2-1 Champions League win over Slavia Prague, having taken a knock when sliding in to force a goal kick inside the opening seven minutes.
Konsa carried on until the 62nd minute and looked comfortable enough, but Arteta later revealed to football.london that the England international had been managing an issue and that the staff chose caution.
“Obviously he's playing a lot. He's played so many games in the last few weeks and he had some issues and we decided to take him off,” Arteta explained.
The concern didn’t linger. On Friday, the manager drew a clear line under it.
“Yeah he's fine, he was feeling much better today, we took him out for precaution and for the amount of minutes that he was playing but yesterday and today he's feeling good.”
With Cristian Mosquera and William Saliba now available in reserve, Arteta has options if he wants to ease Konsa’s workload. But Konsa has been named in Thomas Tuchel’s latest England squad and, fitness restored, he is still expected to start against Hull.
Possible return date: Tomorrow – Hull City (H)
Bukayo Saka’s long wait
The one cloud that refuses to shift hangs over Bukayo Saka.
Arsenal’s talisman has missed the last four matches with the quad injury he picked up against Bayern Munich, and the club continue to resist putting a firm date on his comeback. His omission from Tuchel’s latest England squad was inevitable and only underlined the reality: Saka is set to be out for a while yet.
The initial expectation was a minimum of six weeks on the sidelines, with the possibility of that stretching to 10 depending on how his body responds. Arteta outlined the careful process before the 1-0 win at Liverpool.
“He needed another scan to see how the amount of fluid that was there was resolving, [we needed to know] whether the tendon is touched and how badly it is touched.
“That's all fine, and afterwards we'll know more about it. We want to have him back as quick as possible. The player is desperate, he's feeling much better than he was a few days ago.”
The update this afternoon carried a more definitive tone.
“No, we're talking about obviously weeks. Let's see, after the international break, he's going to start hitting the pitch and start to have more activities, how he feels, but unfortunately he's going to be out for a while.”
Arsenal will hope that the home clash with Real Madrid on December 9 becomes a realistic target, but for now they must continue to navigate key fixtures without their most explosive outlet.
Possible return date: December 9 – Real Madrid (H)
William Saliba edging closer
There was a different kind of landmark in Prague.
William Saliba, out all season after a back injury suffered in France’s World Cup semi-final against Spain, finally returned to a competitive matchday squad. He was named among the substitutes as Arsenal edged past Slavia 2-1 in Czechia, a quiet but significant step in his recovery.
The centre-back has been brought back with extreme care, building his fitness in the background. Arteta revealed that Saliba played 45 minutes in a behind-closed-doors friendly last week, a controlled environment to test his back and sharpness.
Could Hull be the moment for his first minutes of the campaign? It’s possible, but Arsenal will not force it. With Konsa fit and Mosquera available, the likelihood is that Saliba’s full competitive return waits until after the international break unless circumstances demand otherwise.
Possible return date: Tomorrow – Hull City (H)
Andria Bartishvili setback
Away from the first-team spotlight, Arsenal are also keeping a close eye on Andria Bartishvili.
The teenager will not arrive in north London until next summer, after his 18th birthday, but his progress is being tracked carefully while he remains on loan at FC Iberia 1999.
football.london’s Tom Canton reported this week that Bartishvili faces between eight and 12 weeks out with an ankle injury sustained while playing for Iberia. The timing is cruel. It rules him out of the club’s remaining Conference League group games and means he may already have played his final match for them.
His one-year loan began in January, and with the Georgian season concluding in December – unless Iberia reach the Conference League knockouts – the injury leaves little room for a late return unless another temporary move can be arranged.
For Arsenal, it becomes a case of monitoring his rehab from afar, then picking up the thread when he finally walks through the doors at London Colney next summer.
The picture, then, is mixed: a defensive unit slowly returning to full strength, a star winger facing a longer road, and a future prospect forced to pause. For a team chasing another title, how they ride out Saka’s absence while integrating a fit-again Saliba could define the next stretch of their season.
