Arsenal have received an unexpected boost after William Saliba returned to training following the ankle injury that forced the defender to withdraw from the France squad for World Cup qualifying games against Ukraine and Iceland.
Saliba was injured at Anfield on the eve of the international break, giving way to Cristhian Mosquera just five minutes into Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat against Liverpool after turning an ankle in the warm-up.
Reports in France subsequently suggested the 24-year-old could be out for up to a month, but the Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed that Saliba is back in training and could even be in contention to face Nottingham Forest this weekend.
‘We’ll have a decision to make whether we play William Saliba or not’
“William trained today, so we’ll have a decision to make whether we play him or not,” Arteta said on Friday. “It’s very good news.”
Arsenal’s back line could be further bolstered by the return of Ben White, who is also back in training after sitting out the past two games with injury, while the Ecuadorean left-back Piero Hincapié, who joined the club on a season-long loan from Bayer Leverkusen on deadline day, is also available for selection following his midweek spat with the Liverpool and Argentina midfielder Alexis Mac Allister.
“He’s a player that we monitored for years, and he became available,” Arteta said of Hincapié. “We had the departure of Jakub [Kiwior on a season-long loan to Porto], and now we needed another player in that position who could upgrade what we had, play in different positions, play in different formations.
“He’s ready to go. He trained for only two days with us, he had a long travel with the national team – a very successful game at the end against Argentina – but he’s available.”
Layer of intrigue
The presence of former Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou in the opposition dugout, after the Australian took up the Forest reins from the dismissed Nuno Espírito Santo on Tuesday, has added an extra layer of intrigue to the Saturday lunchtime kick-off, and Arteta said Arsenal must be prepared for a challenging afternoon.
“With Ange, his biggest strength, in my opinion, is the way he’s been,” said the Spaniard. “He has put his fingerprints on that team, and he has a very clear way of playing, very clear DNA. [Postecoglou’s teams] are extremely good to watch. I’ve learned a lot from him, and it will be a very difficult game.”
Bukayo Saka is sidelined by a hamstring problem, although Arteta said the winger is working hard to make a swift recovery, while long-term absentees Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus remain some way off a return.
