‘Much More Than Expected’—Mikel Arteta Delivers Worrying Arsenal Injury Update

Arteta singled out one Arsenal player for special praise during the current injury crisis.

It wasn’t all good news for Mikel Arteta despite Wednesday’s 3–0 win. / Catherine Steenkeste/Getty Images

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta revealed that Cristhian Mosquera is set to be sidelined for “much more” time than the club had initially expected, adding to a spiralling injury crisis which got even worse on the morning of Wednesday’s Champions League victory over Club Brugge.

Mosquera has been sidelined with an ankle issue for the past week, joining the first-choice centre back pairing of William Saliba and Gabriel in the treatment room. The initial expectation was that the Spanish defender would not be out for the long-term, but Arteta had to row back on those remarks.

“Unfortunately he’s going to be out for weeks,” the Gunners boss lamented before his side took on Brugge in Belgium. “Unfortunately, it’s much more than what we expected, but the player was feeling it, so he’s going to be out for weeks.”

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Arteta couldn’t even turn to his familiar short-term fix of Jurriën Timber for the Champions League clash. The versatile Dutch defender, who has almost exclusively been used at right back before moonlighting for Mosquera over the past couple of matches, was forced out of the squad after suffering a “really bad kick” during Saturday’s defeat to Aston Villa.

“It was too early” for Timber to return, Arteta bemoaned, while Riccardo Calafiori—another full back capable of playing through the middle—was only fit enough to start on the bench. This unfortunate sequence of events forced Arteta to turn to Christian Nørgaard at the last minute.

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Arteta Takes Positives From Unexpected Hero

Christian Nørgaard played at centre back on Wednesday. / Catherine Steenkeste/Getty Images

The former Brentford captain has been used sparingly during his first few months in north London. A combination of his own injury issues and the superb start enjoyed by Martín Zubimendi has afforded the defensive midfielder few opportunities in his natural role, but he impressed Arteta with a stint in the middle of the backline on Wednesday.

“It’s a really positive evening and I think it’s very difficult to win away from home in the Champions League,” Arteta beamed after the 3–0 victory. “We’ve done it with a lot of absences, especially in the backline and even this morning we lost two players.

“I love the way the team reacted to that, collectively, individually, for example what Christian Nørgaard has done just talks about how much better he makes all of us with his attitude, with his commitment in the manner that he prepares and is able to perform. So yeah, overall a really positive night.”

Whether Nørgaard will be forced back into defence for Saturday’s visit from Wolverhampton Wanderers remains to be seen. Yet, given Arsenal’s current injury record, there’s no guarantee he maintains his fitness until then.

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