BREAKING: Arsenal BEST summer signing substained injury on international duty, set to be out till January- BAD NEWS
Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino will reportedly be sidelined for almost two months with the shoulder injury he sustained in his first Gunners training session.
The Euro 2024 winner – a £32.6m arrival from Real Sociedad during the summer transfer window – suffered a suspected fracture in a freak accident at the Gunners’ London Colney training base.
Merino engaged in a duel with Gabriel Magalhaes before the centre-back landed on him, and he was pictured with his arm in a sling at the weekend, as Arsenal drew 1-1 with Brighton & Hove Albion.
Prior to that stalemate with the Seagulls, Mikel Arteta confirmed that Merino would at least be missing for “a few weeks” with the unfortunate injury he picked up in training, but the prognosis appears to be worse than first feared.
According to the Daily Mail, the 28-year-old is expected to spend almost two months recovering from his issue, and there is virtually no chance that he will return before the October international break.
Arsenal games Merino could miss through injury
However, the report adds that Arsenal staff are optimistic that he will return once that international window is over, although the midfielder will still be sidelined for a few crucial matches between now and then.
Arsenal’s first game back after the September hiatus sees them face North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur away from home, four days before they are scheduled to travel to Atalanta BC in their first Champions League game of the new term.
The trip to the Europa League winners is sandwiched in between daunting Premier League matches at Spurs (September 15) and Manchester City (September 22), and a date also has to be found for their EFL Cup third-round tie with Bolton Wanderers.
Arteta’s men then host Paris Saint-Germain on October 1, while also welcoming two newly-promoted sides Southampton and Leicester City to the Emirates before the second international break of the season.
If Merino’s recovery goes according to plan, the Spaniard could make his Arsenal debut against Bournemouth (October 19) or Shakhtar Donetsk (October 22), which both serve as warm-up games for a home tie with Liverpool on October 27.
