Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed the injury Bukayo Saka suffered on England duty is ‘not serious’, meaning he is in contention to start against Bournemouth on Saturday.
The Gunners are unbeaten in their opening seven Premier League matches but have several injury concerns ahead of their trip to the south coast.
Club captain Martin Odegaard is unlikely to be available until November due to an ankle problem, while Gabriel Martinelli and Saka picked up injuries during the international break.
“He is not going to be fit for this game,” Arteta told reporters on Friday morning.
“Next week will be a different story. He needs to clear some markers. Next week will be crucial to understand how close he is.”
Saka limped off during England’s home defeat to Greece but Arteta is hopeful he can feature at the Vitality Stadium.
“It is not a serious injury. He is evolving really well. He has done a few things in the last two days. We are hopeful. Let’s see if he can make it on time.”
On Martinelli, the Spaniard added: “He landed yesterday afternoon. Again, today will be another step.”
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Thomas Partey (Ghana) and Kai Havertz (Germany) pulled out of representing their countries this month and Arteta says the former is available this weekend.
Havertz has played a lot of football over the last year and his omission from Julian Nagelsmann’s squad was more of a precaution, though Arteta says Friday’s training session will be crucial.
“He had a few issues,” he said. “We’ve been dealing with that. If he trains well today, he has got a good chance.”
On struggling defenders Benjamin White, Jurrien Timber and Oleksandr Zinchenko, Arteta said: “They are quite close the three of them. Today we’ll have to push. We are struggling a bit with the numbers, especially in our right side.”
Japanese full-back Takehiro Tomiyasu is yet to feature for Arsenal this season and Arteta has revealed he has picked up “something else” (another injury) but does not believe he will be absent for a “long period”.
Arteta also commented on Thomas Tuchel being named England manager, saying: “I think he is one of the best coaches in the world without a doubt… Very exciting times.
“I spoke to a few of the players, straight away they had a smile on their faces. That’s always a good sign.”
Arteta also confirmed that he was not one of the 10 managers Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham contacted about replacing Gareth Southgate.
