Arsenal suffer another injury blow as first-team star undergoes knee surgery

Arsenal defender Ben White has undergone minor knee surgery as injury problems continue to mount for Mikel Arteta.

White, 24, a permanent fixture in the Gunners starting XI at right-back, has been playing through the pain barrier for a number of weeks.

The former Brighton star missed games against Leicester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Southampton before returning to the side against Bournemouth and Liverpool in October, playing through the pain barrier with injuries elsewhere in the squad.

He was recently left out of the stating XI against Newcastle United and while he did start in the 1-1 draw against Chelsea last weekend, the decision has been taken for him to undergo a procedure during the international break.

White has undergone the surgery to address a joint issue and while there is no clear timeline for his return, reports claim it is not expected to be a long layoff.  

Arsenal, without a win in their last four Premier League games, return to action against third place Nottingham Forest on 23 November before a Champions League trip to Sporting Lisbon three days later.

They see out November away to West Ham United before hosting Manchester United at the start of next month.

Arsenal remain without summer signing Riccardo Calafiori who has missed the last five games with a knee problem. Jurrien Timber, who has shone at both right and left-back also had fitness issues in October with Takehiro Tomiyasu has not played this season due to a knee issue of his own.

Areta was able to welcome back Martin Odegaard last week after three months out with an ankle injury but there have been fresh issues for Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka.

Rice missed the 1-0 defeat at Inter with a broken toe but was back in the side against Chelsea. Saka meanwhile was forced off late in that game with Arteta declaring post-match their injuries ‘don’t look good.’

Both Rice and Saka subsequently pulled out of the England squad ahead of Nations League games against Greece and Republic of Ireland.

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