Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that new signing Mikel Merino has injured his shoulder.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of the Brighton game, Arteta revealed that the incident happened in training after a collision with Gabriel:
“Very unfortunate. Yesterday he had a collision and he has a shoulder injury, unfortunately. It looks like he’s going to be out for a few weeks.”
“First session. He was really excited and everything was looking really good. He landed on the floor and Gabi [Magalhaes] landed on top of him and it looks like he has a small fracture probably.”
“We have to see [how long he will be out]. He was in so much pain. We’ll have to do some more tests on that and then we’ll have more conclusive answers.”
Merino only officially signed for the Gunners in a deal worth £31.6m on Tuesday but it looks like he will have to wait until next month before he makes his debut for his new team.
2 other Arsenal players are still on the sidelines
Arteta has also said that Gabriel Jesus is still recovering from a groin problem he picked up last week before the victory over Aston Villa.
There was some concern that the Brazilian international could be out for a while but Arteta claims that the striker is “progressing really well”. Even so, his next game for the Gunners will be after the international break.
While there is good news for Jesus, things are not so positive for Takehiro Tomiyasu. The Japanese international has not been seen in action since pre-season due to a knee problem and Arteta says the defender is making “slow” progress, which suggests that he won’t be back playing for the first team anytime soon.
