Mikel Arteta has delivered the latest news on the fitness of several first team players as we prepare to host Wolves in the Premier League on Saturday, December 13.
The boss was first asked about central defender William Saliba, who has missed our last three games with a knock.
“We have to wait and see,” Mikel said at the Sobha Realty Training Centre, “yesterday we didn’t train, so we have an extra day between this afternoon, let’s see if he can be available or not. It remains the same. If you asked me for the Everton game, I think he will be fit; for tomorrow, I don’t know.”
As well as missing Wilo, we also travelled to Brugge on Wednesday without Jurrien Timber, who missed out with a knock, but could be back for Saturday’s game.
“Again, depends how he feels today. It was a knock that he picked, and he wasn’t feeling comfortable," Mikel added. “So again, I think it’s a matter of days, but whether it’s tomorrow or not we’ll see.”
Declan Rice was another absentee from this week’s Champions League victory, as he recovered from illness, with Mikel's prognosis being: “Let’s see how he is today. He was ill, that’s an illness, normally in a few days it gets resolved, but we have to wait and see.”
The boss was also asked about the fitness of Leandro Trossard, who was brought off against Aston Villa last weekend despite having come off the bench to score our equaliser. “Again, another one that is a matter of days. It sounds boring, but it’s the reality, so we don’t know.”
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While the boss was unsure on the fitness of many players, he was absolutely sure about the ability of Gabriel Jesus to make an impact on his return.
Gabi came off the bench to make his first competitive appearance in almost a year after suffering an ACL injury in last season’s FA Cup tie against Manchester United.
“We know his quality,” Mikel said on the Brazilian, “a player that has given us so much and he comes with the energy that came the other day (against Brugge). He’s certainly a player that has to be pushing and aiming for [minutes], that’s for sure.”
Finally, when asked how we’ve maintained our form in the absence of key players, Mikel pointed to the adaptability of players such as Christian Norgaard, who played in central defence on Wednesday.
Despite the Danish midfielder playing out of position, we kept our fifth clean sheet in six Champions League games.
“I think that comes [down] to the mentality of the players, the intelligence of a player like Christian as well, and how to fulfil that role," Mikel mused. “In the morning, you tell him, surprisingly, that he needs to play in that position because we don’t have any other one to play in there, and then you need to fulfil that role.
“But we have a lot of examples of players that have played in different positions, like Mikel, like many others, and that’s great because that gives us energy.”
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