Arsenal defender William Saliba was spotted walking with a limp as he provided an update on the injury that forced him to leave the pitch against Liverpool after just five minutes. The Frenchman was replaced by Cristhian Mosquera who thought he was going to secure a clean sheet at Anfield, only for Dominik Szoboszlai to thunder in a free-kick from range late in the game.
Saliba had earlier gone down after an innocuous collision with Liverpool striker Hugo Ekitike and received treatment on the pitch before being substituted off. He went straight down the tunnel and Mikel Arteta later confirmed that Saliba picked up an issue in the warm-up.
The 24-year-old attempted to play on despite the ankle injury, but after a short amount of time had to be replaced.
“He twisted his ankle during the warm-up, and he came in and he said he believed that he could carry on and play, but he strayed away in the first two actions,” said Arteta. “I could see that he couldn’t cope and we had to get him out, unfortunately.”
Saliba was spotted by PA walking through the mixed zone after the match, however, and he visibly had a limp. The defender did give a thumbs up when asked about his condition though, perhaps indicating that the initial signs are positive.
He may still miss France's next two matches over the international break against Ukraine and Iceland.
Arteta was thankful to have Mosquera at his disposal, having brought the young Spanish defender in from Valencia this summer for just £13million.
“Thank god we have Mosquera,” Arteta added. “We put [him] in for the first time in the Premier League, his debut, not expecting it at Anfield and I think he was really, really good.”
Arsenal are also set to sign versatile Bayer Leverkusen defender Piero Hincapie on transfer deadline day.
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