The air around the Emirates has turned a little thin. Arsenal are set to run the rule over William Saliba's troublesome back injury the moment he repo...
The air around the Emirates has turned a little thin. Arsenal are set to run the rule over William Saliba's troublesome back injury the moment he reports back for duty after the World Cup break. GoalZaza understands that the club's medical team are keeping a very open mind on this one and have not ruled out the option of going under the knife.Let's be perfectly clear about what this means. Saliba has been nothing short of a revelation this season. His composure on the ball, that rare ability to step out of the defensive line and break up transitional play, and his growing partnership with Gabriel have given Mikel Arteta a platform to build from. Losing him to a prolonged spell on the sidelines would be a gut punch. And back injuries, well, they are the trickiest customers in the business. They can linger. They can sap your explosive power. One mistimed twist and you are out for weeks. Surgery is the nuclear option, but sometimes a clean fix beats six months of uncertainty.The timing is absolutely rotten, isn't it The Premier League is about to enter its most congested phase. Squeaky bum time, as the old guard like to call it. Arteta has been rotating where he can, but the defence has been his one constant. You do not tinker with a back four that has kept nine clean sheets before Christmas. Yet here we are, staring at the very real prospect of Rob Holding or Jakub Kiwior being thrust into the white hot intensity of a title race. Holding is a trier, a proper club man, but he lacks Saliba's recovery pace and his ability to play out from the back under a high press. That is not a criticism, it is a fact of football life.So what happens next Arsenal will assess, the specialists will scan, and a decision will be made. If it is rest and rehab, you are looking at a few weeks out with a managed load. If it is surgery, you could be talking months. The club will lean on the player's long term health, naturally, but the cold reality is that this could define their entire season. Arteta needs his best defender fit. The margins at the top are that fine. One bad back and the whole spine of the team starts to creak.
