Arteta sweating on Bruno fitness ahead of Chelsea clash
Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Bruno Guimaraes picked up a knock against Aston Villa, but hopes the Brazilian will be fit enough to return to training tomorrow after sitting out the last couple of sessions.
The summer signing missed the opening game of the Premier League season with an issue sustained during his 45-minute cameo in the Community Shield. It is unclear whether this is a recurrence or an unrelated problem.
“He had a knock against Villa,” said Arteta on Friday. “He’s being assessed, but probably tomorrow he’ll be OK training.”
It is not a major concern for the manager given the midfield options at his disposal, although the 28-year-old looked very useful after stepping off the bench at Villa Park on Monday.
Elsewhere, it appears Cristhian Mosquera has avoided any lasting damage after asking to be substituted against Villa. The Spaniard felt some muscular discomfort and was replaced by Ezri Konsa in the closing stages. A decision on Mosquera’s availability for Sunday’s clash with Chelsea has yet to be made, which means our new centre-back could be handed his first start at the Emirates.
Finally, Jurrien Timber has resumed training with his teammates as he edges closer to returning from a long-standing groin injury. The Dutchman first suffered the problem in mid-March and, despite making it back to play an hour in the Champions League final, subsequently missed the World Cup to undergo a minor operation.
“Jurrien is in really good condition at the moment, he’s been a few weeks on the pitch and has been training with us, so he’s in a really good place,” said Arteta. “We will decide [on his involvement on Sunday] after training [on Saturday].”
Arsenal face five games across three competitions over the next fortnight, including four consecutive away fixtures after Sunday. It will be interesting to see whether Timber is given any minutes during that run before the extended interlull begins.
As for William Saliba, who continues to rest a back problem, Arteta said:
“We don’t really know the amount of weeks he’s going to be out because it’s about a healing process and everything is a bit different – we know we have to respect certain timings.
“The progression has been really positive in the last few weeks, but we need to wait and see how that one reacts when we start to put some load into it.”
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