Arsenal have been handed a much-needed boost in terms of personnel returning from injury, with defender Ben White nearing his return after missing over two months of action. Manager Mikel Arteta delivered an encouraging update about the Englishman in the aftermath of the Gunners’ 5-1 demolition of Manchester City.
Speaking to the media, Arteta said, “There is no news from the game against City. Ben (White) is still out. Hopefully after the break, he will be available. Saka, not yet – I don’t know (if he could be back in March).”
White had been nursing a niggling knee problem since the closing stages of the 2023/24 season, but chose not to address the issue back then. Over the summer and over the course of the opening stages of this season, though, the problem began to flare up and demanded medical attention. To that tune, the player underwent a corrective surgery for his knee in November and has been out of action since.
His last appearance came in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea in the Premier League on November 10. White has since missed 21 games for the Gunners, which is comfortably his lengthiest injury layoff since joining the club in July 2021. However, that seems to be coming to an end soon.
“Arsenal lacked composure” – Arteta outlines reason for Newcastle debacle
Arsenal lost the second leg of the EFL Cup semis 2-0 at St. James’ Park, which culminated in a 4-0 aggregate defeat as they bowed out of the competition. Speaking after the match, manager Mikel Arteta explained why his team failed to get back into the tie. He said,
“To believe that we could turn it around, we needed to generate momentum, especially in the first half. Then we had the moment, two big moments, with Martin, we didn’t capitalize the next action, they scored the goal and obviously, the game shifted.
“It’s true that today we’ve been a bit more unsettled, especially when the game became more chaotic or when they were very direct with their play. Normally we were much more composed, today we lacked a bit of composure and the game went away from us.”
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The Gunners will now shift their focus back onto the Premier League and the Champions League – the only two competitions they remain competitive in.
