william saliba
Arsenal were one of the teams to come out of the World Cup worse than they went into when they lost one of their star players to injury.
William Saliba went into the tournament in America, Canada and Mexico already suffering with a back injury and after playing an important role in France's run to the semi-final, only missing the final group match against Norway, which was a dead rubber, Saliba could only manage 30 minutes against Spain in the semi-final before being forced off.
Returning to London, there were conversations as to whether the centre-back would require surgery or not, but thankfully for Arsenal that was not deemed to be necessary.
William Saliba 2025/26 stats
Appearances: 50 (48 starts)
Minutes played: 4,254
Goals: 1
Assists: 1
Yellow cards: 3
Red cards: 0
Arsenal take on Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday, with the Premier League champions taking on the FA Cup winners in the curtain raiser to the new 2026/27 season. But they will do so without Saliba in their squad.
Mikel Arteta has admitted that the France international's injury is "long-term", but it might not be as long as initially feared when he went off against Spain.
And a timeline of Saliba's spell on the sidelines has emerged from BBC journalist Sami Mokbel. He said: “What I was told during the World Cup, if William Saliba was to have surgery, it would have been four to five months out. Thankfully for Arsenal, they managed to avoid that length of time, but I think we’re still looking at a minimum of two to three months.”
If Saliba is to be out for two months, from when he picked up the injury, he would be back in mid-September, missing the first month of the season. Arteta's comments that it is a "more long-term" injury suggest it could be three months, which would see him out until mid October.
Games Saliba could miss:
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Date Opposition Home or away
August 16 Manchester City Neutral
August 21 Coventry City Home
August 31 Aston Villa Away
September 6 Chelsea Home
September 8/9 Champions League Unknown
September 12 Sunderland Away
September 15/16 Carabao Cup 3rd round Unknown
September 19 Brighton Away
October 10 Leeds Home
October 13/14 Champions League Unknown
Arsenal will go into Sunday's match with their top World Cup stars back available for selection, however.
England players Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka and Spanish World Cup winner Martin Zubimendi should all be available to take on City in what will be new boss Enzo Maresca's first proper game in charge.
Arteta said: "Yeah they will be available, they trained today and will train tomorrow."