Arsenal fear Bukayo Saka could miss a minimum of six weeks with the quadriceps injury he sustained in their Champions League tie against Bayern Munich.
The 25-year-old will undergo an MRI scan on Friday afternoon to better assess the problem, which forced him off in Wednesday’s 2-2 draw at the Allianz Arena. Fluid around the affected muscle has made diagnosis difficult, but club medics estimate, after early examinations, that Saka will be out for at least six weeks, and it could be even longer.
If those early concerns are realised, he will miss a clutch of key games for the Gunners, as well as England’s forthcoming Uefa Nations League matches against Croatia and Spain.
Arteta urges patience
Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta said the club needs more scans and specialist opinions before reaching a conclusion.
“We need a few more scans and opinions from the specialists,” Arteta said. “When a player has to walk off the pitch, he is struggling to walk without any pain, and is restricted to movement; it is not a good sign. Let’s be a little bit patient so we can give a definitive assessment.
“He’s got another MRI as there was quite a lot of fluid in the area so it was quite difficult to understand the extent of the injury. We will know more tomorrow.”
Saka will also miss Saturday’s home Premier League match against Everton. Second-placed Arsenal will hope to close a three-point gap on leaders Manchester City in that fixture.
A season of fitness problems
The Arsenal academy product has battled fitness issues in recent months. His game time was managed at the end of last season, as well as with England at the World Cup, because of an Achilles injury he suffered in March. He missed the March international break and seven games for the Gunners, but returned to help them win the Premier League title for the first time in 22 years.
Saka started the Champions League final defeat by Paris St-Germain but was substituted after 54 minutes. At the World Cup, he started only three of England’s eight games, though he scored a hat-trick in the 6-4 third-place win over France.
The forward also had surgery on a hamstring injury he picked up in December 2024, which kept him out for 101 days in the 2024-25 campaign. He made 49 appearances as Arsenal won the title last term, despite a stop-start season. Beyond the Achilles problem, Saka pulled out of a January game against Leeds with a hip injury sustained in the warm-up, while a hamstring problem also kept him out for about four weeks.
Questions over Saka’s robustness
The need for follow-up scans, with the possibility of him being out for up to eight weeks, is a major blow for Arteta and Arsenal.
The Gunners boss had recently spoken about how Saka had been adapting his positioning to become more of a regular goalscorer. The winger has scored four goals in 11 appearances so far this season. Now, however, another muscle injury has raised doubts about whether he still has the robustness that made him a certain starter in the Arsenal team.
Arteta acknowledged that Saka’s robustness and availability have “certainly been different in the last year or so”.
Limited options in attack
Arsenal tried to sign a world-class forward to strengthen their frontline in the summer but were unsuccessful, with pursuits of Vinicius Jr and Julian Alvarez both failing. They did bring in Greece international Christos Tzolis, but he is currently injured too.
That leaves Noni Madueke, Eberechi Eze and 16-year-old Max Dowman as the alternative wing options. Dowman has had limited minutes this season, but Arteta spoke glowingly of his talent and his ability to impact matches.