Mikel Arteta held his pre-Tottenham press conference on Friday afternoon with the Arsenal boss mostly asked about injuries
14:39, 21 Nov 2025Updated 14:41, 21 Nov 2025
Mikel Arteta during an Arsenal training session
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Mikel Arteta has delivered Arsenal injury updates on Gabriel Magalhaes, Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Jesus(Image: (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images))
The majority of Mikel Arteta's press conference ahead of the North London Derby against Tottenham was unsurprisingly dominated by injury news. Eights Gunners stars are currently recovering from both minor and major issues with the hope being that some can return to action this weekend.
Gabriel Magalhaes will almost certainly not be one of those having suffered his muscular problem less than one week ago while in action for Brazil. He later returned to London Colney with fears high that he could miss a prolonged spell.
The likes of Martin Odegaard, Viktor Gyokeres, Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke are all pushing to return with Arteta hopeful but coy on whether any of the quartet will be named in his matchday squad on Sunday. With all of that being said, football.london has rounded up the big headlines from Arteta's Friday press conference.
Arsenal confirms Arsenal injury boost
Forgotten star Gabriel Jesus is edging closer towards a long-awaited return with Arteta hinting he could be back in the fold very soon.
"We have put in a lot of energy to bring them back as quick as possible," he said. "Tomorrow we will have more clarity.
"I am hopeful that we will take another step tomorrow."
The Brazil international has been absent since January after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament, but has been in team training for a number of weeks with Arteta's comments suggesting Saturday could be a big one for him.
New Gabriel scan date
Arteta has ruled Gabriel out of games against Tottenham, Bayern Munich and Chelsea at a minimum. Those initial concerns it could be longer than weeks were supported by the Arsenal boss admitting more tests were due to understand the true extent of his problem.
Gabriel Magalhaes
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Gabriel Magalhaes is set for more tests(Image: (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images))
He said: "Gabi unfortunately picked up an injury and he's going to be out for weeks. Pushed for more clarity, Arteta added: "We need to have another scan. I think it's next Wednesday, and we'll have the timeline probably much clearer than we have at the moment."
Arsenal star 'hasn't trained' before Spurs
With the injury suffered by one defender over the international break taking all the headlines, it was somewhat forgotten that Riccardo Calafiori also withdrew from his national team camp. It does appear to be a much more minor issue with the 23-year-old still training at Italy, but just under a different programme.
Back in north London however, the Arsenal head coach has admitted that is yet to happen.
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Arteta admitted: "He wasn't available for [Italy], he's been carrying a few things and we had to bring him back. He hasn't trained yet, we have a session tomorrow so we will see.
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