Arsenal Injury Update: Konsa Cleared, Saka Out for Weeks
Arsenal head into their final game before the international break with the treatment room finally beginning to empty – and the timing could hardly be better.
Hull City visit north London on Saturday with the Premier League champions chasing a fifth straight league win since that bruising 3-0 defeat at Brighton. Mikel Arteta stepped in front of the cameras on Friday with something he has not always had this season: largely positive injury news.
Below is where his squad stands.
Ezri Konsa: scare over
Any lingering concern over Ezri Konsa has been firmly parked.
The defender felt his left knee in the early stages of Arsenal’s 2-1 Champions League win at Slavia Prague, appearing to take a knock as he slid in to force a goal kick inside the opening seven minutes. He played on until the 62nd minute and looked comfortable, but Arteta later revealed the England international had been carrying an issue.
“Obviously he's playing a lot. He's played so many games in the last few weeks and he had some issues and we decided to take him off,” the Arsenal manager told football.london after the game.
The pressure of minutes was the real concern, not structural damage. On Friday, Arteta delivered the update every Arsenal supporter wanted.
“Yeah he's fine, he was feeling much better today, we took him out for precaution and for the amount of minutes that he was playing but yesterday and today he's feeling good.”
Konsa trained on Friday morning and is available for Hull. With Cristian Mosquera and William Saliba in reserve, Arteta does have scope to rotate, but Konsa has been named in Thomas Tuchel’s latest England squad and is still expected to start.
Possible return date: Tomorrow – Hull City (H)
Bukayo Saka: weeks, not days
The good news stops there for Bukayo Saka.
Arsenal’s talisman has now missed four straight matches after suffering a quad injury against Bayern Munich, and there is still no fixed return date. The club have avoided putting a precise timeline on his comeback, and his omission from Tuchel’s England squad simply underlines the severity.
The initial expectation was stark enough: at least six weeks out, potentially up to 10 depending on how his body responds.
Before Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Liverpool, Arteta explained the process.
“He needed another scan to see how the amount of fluid that was there was resolving, [we needed to know] whether the tendon is touched and how badly it is touched.
“That's all fine, and afterwards we'll know more about it. We want to have him back as quick as possible. The player is desperate, he's feeling much better than he was a few days ago.”
That sounded cautiously upbeat. The latest message is more blunt.
“No, we're talking about obviously weeks. Let's see, after the international break, he's going to start hitting the pitch and start to have more activities, how he feels, but unfortunately he's going to be out for a while.”
Arsenal hope to have Saka back in time for the December 9 showdown with Real Madrid, but every step now depends on how his quad reacts when he returns to on‑pitch work after the break.
Possible return date: December 9 – Real Madrid (H)
William Saliba: edging towards a comeback
For the first time this season, William Saliba’s name appeared where Arsenal fans have wanted to see it – on a competitive team sheet.
The centre-back made the bench in Prague on Wednesday as Arsenal beat Slavia 2-1, a significant milestone after months of painstaking rehabilitation from the back injury he suffered in France’s World Cup semi-final against Spain.
Saliba has been handled with extreme caution. Arteta revealed the defender played 45 minutes in a behind-closed-doors friendly last week, a gentle step back into match rhythm rather than a full-blooded return.
Could he feature against Hull? It is not out of the question. If the game state allows, Arteta may be tempted to hand him a brief run-out. The more likely scenario is that his first meaningful minutes arrive after the international break, when his conditioning should be closer to full match sharpness.
For now, just seeing him back in the matchday squad changes the feel of Arsenal’s defensive options.
Possible return date: Tomorrow – Hull City (H)
Andria Bartishvili: future asset, present setback
Andria Bartishvili will not pull on an Arsenal shirt until next summer, but the club are already tracking his progress closely – and his latest setback.
On loan at FC Iberia 1999, the teenager recently suffered an ankle injury that will sideline him for between eight and 12 weeks, as reported by football.london’s Tom Canton. The timing is brutal for the youngster and for Iberia.
The lay-off rules him out of the remainder of Iberia’s Conference League group campaign and, with his one-year loan running from January and the Georgian season finishing in December (unless Iberia reach the Conference League knockouts), he may well have played his final game for the club.
Unless a new loan can be arranged, his next competitive chapter will be written under Arsenal’s watch.
With Konsa cleared, Saliba re-emerging and Saka’s horizon finally in view, Arsenal approach Hull with a squad that looks stronger than it has for weeks. The question now is simple: can they turn that growing health into the kind of momentum that shapes a season?
