Mikel Arteta announced during Monday’s pre-Ipswich Town press conference that Bukayo Saka will be unavailable for several weeks.
Arsenal’s number seven went down in the 24th minute of Saturday’s 5-1 win away to Crystal Palace and had to be replaced by Leandro Trossard.
“It’s not looking good,” Mikel said. “Obviously he’s a big player for us. You just have to see the impact that he has on the team, but it’s going to be a really good exercise for all of us to think about ways to overcome another challenge, because we’ve already had a lot in the season.”
Unfortunately, Raheem Sterling won’t be available to help the Gunners overcome this challenge, as he is also expected to be sidelined for several weeks.
“He needs some further testing tomorrow to understand the extent of the injury,” Mikel added. “It’s his knee and we have to wait another 24 hours, but unfortunately he’s going to be out for a while.”
With two right-wingers set to miss out, Mikel Arteta was asked which other players could fill that position.
“[Gabriel Martinelli] did really well again the other day,” he said. “He scored a goal, he created an assist. And it’s a good option to have. We’re going to have the options to play both footed as well. If we need to, another kind of profile in relation to the opposition. So, we are on it.”
“Gabby [Jesus] has played there, Ethan [Nwaneri] has played there, Leo [Trossard] can play there in relation to how that unit moves. Kai [Havertz] can play there, asking him different things. So, we’ll see, try to speak to them as well and understand how they feel about it.”
In light of the news that Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling will both be sidelined for several weeks, Mikel Arteta also spoke about the implications for the team moving forward.
Speaking at the Sobha Realty Training Centre in his pre-Ipswich Town press conference, the Gunners’ manager admitted he will need to come up with some creative solutions.
“We have to look internally at what we have and be creative, do a very good exercise again,” he explained. “How can we mould the squad? How can we adapt to the circumstances and be different? We cannot pretend to be the same. We’re going to have to be different and try to find the best way to do it and be very competitive and win a lot of games.”
“I am putting some ideas together. I haven’t got there yet, but I have a few. Then I want to speak with them as well, to understand how we are going to generate that and take it in a positive way. Because we are going to be different.”
“We went through the period [without] Martin, we went through the period with five, six defenders missing, we went through the period without many other players. We will continue to do that: finding ways and taking it with positive energy. That’s it.”
“I make sure that we utilise every player in the best possible potential. Everyone has to feel part of it. You need to rediscover players in different positions, relationships. It’s a great one. It’s a really good exercise and the boys are willing to do anything we demand them to do. That’s a really good thing as well.”
