Mikel Arteta will be hoping no more major Arsenal injury blows arrive during the international break. The Gunners have been plagued by key absences this season, particularly in their frontline, with three senior attackers all set to miss at least three months each.
Martin Odegaard and Ben White have also been unavailable for lengthy periods in this campaign but both are now back in the team. Gabriel Martinelli also recently missed a month of action but his return earlier this month has seen the Gunners' injury list reduced to four.
England forward Bukayo Saka is one of those four currently absent with the Arsenal talisman having not featured since the 5-1 victory over Crystal Palace just before Christmas. Surgery was required to fix the problem but he was spotted working in the gym while Arsenal took part in their warm-weather training camp in Dubai.
With over two weeks until Arsenal play again, the 23-year-old now has a significant amount of time to get up to speed with Arteta providing a positive update ahead of the London derby win against Chelsea.
"He's got a good chance [of returning in April]," Arsenal's manager said. "He's going to be here [at London Colney], hopefully, more with the ball at his feet than he has had. He's getting closer and he's stepping up and making very good progress."
In addition to that, The Mirror state that he's on course to return for Arsenal's Champions League quarter-final tie against Real Madrid. It has also been noted that the club hope he makes good progress over the next ten days to, potentially, feature on the subs bench against Fulham on Tuesday, April 1.
The likes of Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz and Takehiro Tomiyasu, however, have all been ruled out for the rest of the season. The latter recently had another knee surgery with late 2025 pencilled in as his rough return date.
Just prior to that, Havertz tore his hamstring during the Gunners' training camp in Dubai with it likely he's back for pre-season. Jesus, meanwhile, suffered damage to his ACL in the FA Cup third round defeat to Manchester United back in January with it expected he is back a few months into the 2025/25 campaign.
Those four were the only injury concerns for Arteta prior to Thursday evening - but that has now changed. In the late stages of Italy's Nations League defeat to Germany, Riccardo Calafiori appeared to pick up an injury when he landed awkwardly after slipping off the ball.
In the immediate aftermath, both the defender and Italy head coach Luciano Spalletti were unsure if an injury had been suffered, though it was not a great sign to later see him limping through the mixed zone.
And now, Italian publication Corriere dello Sport have indicated he has suffered a lesion to his collateral ligament with the recovery time for his specific issue ranging from two to three weeks, which puts his involvement to face Real Madrid in the Champions League in huge jeopardy.
Italy have since officially confirmed via a statement that he will return to London Colney. Their update read: "Riccardo Calafiori, who underwent tests late this morning after sustaining an injury to his left knee during yesterday's match against Germany, has been deemed unavailable for Sunday's second leg and the player will return to his club."