Mikel Arteta says Arsenal will wait until after today’s training session to decide whether Gabriel Magalhaes is fit to face West Ham United on Saturday.
The Brazil international took a knock to his ankle during Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Olympiacos and was replaced by Cristhian Mosquera for the final 15 minutes. The manager wasn’t too concerned after the game, and he sounded similarly relaxed on Friday.
“We will have to wait and see after training and see how everybody is. We weren’t too concerned about it,” he said.
If they don’t want to take any risks, Mosquera has proved himself an able deputy. It’s just a shame Piero Hincapie isn’t available.
The loanee underwent surgery in the summer while still on the books at Bayer Leverkusen and only returned to pre-season training at the end of July.
He was working his way back to full fitness when his move to the Emirates materialised, and he’s subsequently had a setback in London following his stoppage-time cameo in Arsenal’s 2-0 win against Athletic Club last month.
On the Ecuador international, Arteta said: “We’ve been trying to do everything as fast as possible [to get him fit], but this game came too fast. Now we have an international break, so hopefully, after that, he will have a couple of sessions with the team and be ready to go.”
Presumably, the defender will sit out his country’s upcoming friendlies with the USA and Mexico.
Arsenal are also without a trio of players still recovering from knee problems – Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz and Noni Madueke. All the same, Arteta won’t be short of options for the visit of the Hammers, who only installed Nuno Espirito Santo as Graham Potter’s replacement last week.
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