Mikel Arteta says he does not know if defender, William Saliba will be able to play again this season.
Since suffering an injury during the Arsenal’s Europa League loss to Sporting Lisbon on penalties in March, the 22-year-old center back has been sidelined for four matches.
The Arsenal manager added, “With William, we have a little more waiting to do.”
“He is not improving as fast as we had thought. It is somewhat fragile”.
“We want to be very certain that he is ready to absorb the load when we push him, and with the risk we would take at this time that is not possible to do,” Arteta continued.
Arteta was asked if he was afraid that Saliba, a France international who has made 33 appearances this season, might not play again this year. Rob Holding has filled in for Saliba.
“Its too early to make predictions, I suppose. Most likely, we will have greater certainty by the next week“. Arteta said
Arsenal hosts Southampton in the Premier League this weekend after drawing with West Ham and Liverpool, both games in which they surrendered a two-goal advantage.