Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta will be glad he pushed for more defensive reinforcements in the summer transfer market as the Spaniard's injury problems mount at the Emirates.
The Gunners are experiencing something of a mini crisis at the back after Ben White and Riccardo Calafiori picked up minor injuries. That could leave the 42-year-old boss with just four fit defenders for the Champions League clash against PSG on Tuesday.
Calafiori took part in training on Monday, but Arteta did not offer any guarantees of an injury boost before facing the French champions. He said: “We have a training session this afternoon and we have to review a few players, but overall, especially [anyone] returning, there’s nothing to give back.
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“[Ben and Riccardo] are the two players that are in contention and we have to review today. We didn’t do any training sessions yesterday. [Riccardo] was a bit emotional after the game, so let's see how he is today.”
Last summer, the north London outfit paid £38m to sign Jurrien Timber from Ajax before he suffered an ACL injury on the opening day of the 2023-24 campaign, keeping the Dutchman out for the majority of the season.
Perhaps fearing a similar injury to one of his regulars, Arteta also decided to bring in another defender this summer to give himself more cover at the back, signing Italy international Calafiori from Bologna in a £42m deal.
The 22-year-old can play as a left-back or centre-half, giving Arteta options to switch between in case the Spaniard suffers more injuries to his squad. And sure enough, the injury list is starting to fill up at an alarming rate.
Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kieran Tierney have already been sidelined with injury problems since pre-season. But losing White - who missed just one league game for Arsenal across the last two seasons - has certainly impacted Arteta's plans.
Timber has come into the team (hasn't really come in/was playing on the left before White's injury) to deputise for the Englishman at right-back, while Calafiori has been drafted in perhaps earlier than expected to fill the vacant spot on the left side.
Arsenal are not quite stretched thin, as they do have Jakub Kiwior available to step in for Calafiori at left-back. But Arteta was forced to add Maldini Kacurri, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Josh Nichols to his bench to provide additional cover.
The young trio were all handed valuable minutes during the 5-1 win over Bolton Wanderers in the Carabao Cup third round. But Arteta may have reservations about throwing them in at the deep end of Premier League action - with all three starlets still only 18 years of age.
The good news is that Calafiori and White will not be sidelined for long with their current issues, so it is very much a short-term issue and one that Arsenal are prepared to cope with thanks to Arteta's contigency planning.
But any more injuries - chiefly to Gabriel or William Saliba - would leave them scrambling to find a replacement.
