Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has, late on Sunday, provided an update on the wellbeing of key defensive pair William Saliba and Takehiro Tomiyasu.
For those who may have missed it, Arsenal were dealt not one, but two blows on the personnel front in midweek.
This came as, en route to an eventual Europa League exit at the hands of Portuguese giants Sporting CP, both William Saliba and Takehiro Tomiyasu limped out of proceedings inside the opening 20 minutes.
The two stoppers, in turn, sat out their side’s meeting with Crystal Palace this afternoon, leaving the Arsenal faithful to sweat over the potential of extended incoming spells on the sidelines.
Saliba, in particular, has of course long proven himself an absolutely integral figure at the heart of Mikel Arteta’s backline.
Speaking on the back of his side’s 4-1 downing of Palace, it therefore came as little surprise when the subject of the wellbeing of his two sidelined stars was put to the Gunners’ boss.
And, first, Arteta provided an altogether concerning update on the situation of Tomiyasu.
“We don’t know,” proved the response to questions on the possibility of the Japanese sitting out the remainder of the season. “Obviously the doctor is assessing him. We’ve had one assessment, they need to have another assessment tomorrow, but it’s not looking good, that’s for sure.
“Looking at Tomi, he’s not someone who exaggerates things. He was really concerned straight away, and we are concerned.”
On Saliba, meanwhile, the outlook appears to be slightly more encouraging, albeit with the true extent of the Frenchman’s back problem only set to become clear by way of a round of medical tests on Monday:
“We hope Willy is going to be better news but again we have to wait until tomorrow to understand a better picture.”
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