Arsenal could be handed a welcome boost in terms of personnel as Raheem Sterling is rumored to be the next player who could possibly make a return from injury.
As per reports from The Standard, the Chelsea loanee has been out with knee problems since mid-December, and could return to action for the Gunners before the end of January. His last appearance came in a 3-2 win for Arsenal against Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup quarter-finals on December 20.
The report adds that while the semi-final first leg against Newcastle United may come too soon for Sterling, he could mark his return for the club against Manchester United, Tottenham or Aston Villa – three big games in the span of a week. This will come as a welcome boost for Mikel Arteta and his men, who have relied on the same players over and over again, and would be delighted to have a few more players in the rotation to ease the workload on everyone.
Sterling has made just 11 appearances this season, scoring one goal and providing two assists. He will be eager to get back to action soon, with a good chance of playing a decent amount of minutes.
Mikel Arteta speaks about Sterling’s situation
Raheem Sterling picked up a minor knee injury in the team’s training session ahead of the EFL Cup tie against Crystal Palace in December, but started the game anyway and played almost 70 minutes. His injury seemed to have gotten worse over the course of the match, with Arteta providing an update ahead of the Gunners’ 3-1 win at Brentford on New Year’s Day. He said,
“He was gutted because he had a good game against Palace here. He could have scored two goals and made an assist and in the end he got injured in the training session. That was his opportunity because naturally he would have played in that position. But knowing Raz, I think he will be back quite soon.”
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The Gunners have suffered injuries to key players including Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Benjamin White, among others, and have barely had their entire first team fit simultaneously. They also only have 22 senior players in the first team and will need to invest in squad depth to compete in multiple competitions until the latter stages.
