Mikel Arteta has issued another update on the fitness of his squad ahead of our Premier League clash with Sunderland on Saturday, February 7.
Bukayo Saka missed our 1-0 win over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-finals with a hip problem, but the boss is expecting to have our no.7 available before too long.
"His hip is getting much better," the boss said at the Sobha Realty Training Centre, "hopefully very soon he will be with us; very soon."
Martin Odegaard also missed Wednesday's London derby win, and as with Bukayo, Mikel is confident of seeing our captain back in action soon.
"Martin again is getting better, it will be a matter of days we believe."
The boss also confirmed that Jurrien Timber will be available for selection at Emirates Stadium this weekend despite missing opening training on Thursday.
With Bukayo and Martin close to re-joining the squad and Jurrien ready to go, our only first-team injury concern is to Mikel Merino. who will be on the sidelines for an extended period of time with a foot injury.
"Obviously it's a big blow," the boss admitted, "Mikel offers something unique in the team but he's going to be out for four months unfortunately with a very rare injury.
"We need to support him, make sure that he's very connected with the team because he can still add a lot of value to the players and the staff and keep him around."
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Medical update: Mikel Merino](https://www.arsenal.com/news/medical-update-mikel-merino?utm_source=arsenaldotcom&utm_medium=embedded-article&utm_campaign=news)
While we have lost Mikel for the coming months, Kai Havertz has been excelling since his return to the team.
The German forward has two goals in three games, including the memorable winner against Chelsea last time out, and the boss has been delighted with what he's seen from our no.29.
"We are really happy to have him. Again, he offers something very different to the team and to be able to mix it up.
"For him to show the level that he's shown immediately after such a long injury is very impressive so it's great."
[Read more
Every word of Mikel’s pre-Sunderland presser](https://www.arsenal.com/news/every-word-mikels-pre-sunderland-presser?utm_source=arsenaldotcom&utm_medium=embedded-article&utm_campaign=news)
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