New Arsenal signing Mikel Arteta has revealed. A possible shoulder fracture has been sustained by Mikel Merino.
Following the completion of his much-awaited transfer from Real Sociedad earlier this week, it was believed that the midfield player from Spain will make his debut on Saturday against Brighton.
Now, though, Merino looks destined to miss a few weeks of action due to an injury he sustained in his first training session with the Gunners after a clash with new colleague Gabriel Magalhaes.
At his news conference prior to the game, Arteta confirmed Merino’s injury, saying, “Yes, very unfortunate.”
‘Yesterday he had a collision. He has got a shoulder injury and it looks like he is going to be out for a few weeks. [It was his] first session. It looks like he has a small fracture.’
On how the injury occurred, Arteta added: ‘He was really excited and everything was looking really good. He landed on the floor and Gabi [Gabriel Magalhaes] landed on top of him and it looks like he has a small fracture probably.
‘We have to see [how long he will be out]. He was in so much pain. We’ll have to do some more tests on that and then we’ll have more conclusive answers.’
Arsenal will also be without Gabriel Jesus again with the Brazil international forward still out with the groin injury which ruled him out of last weekend’s win over Aston Villa.
‘He’s progressing really well,’ Arteta said. ‘He had a muscle injury (groin) and he’s already doing a lot of stuff so we expect him to be with us soon (not for Brighton though).’
Takehiro Tomiyasu will also be absent from the squad for the match with Brighton at Emirates Stadium due to a knee injury.
The Japan international has not played any matches in pre-season and Arteta could not confirm when he will be back.
‘At the moment, it’s difficult to say,’ he said. ‘It’s a bit slow the process of the first phase of that injury. It’s probably for the medical team to say more on that.’