Arsenal may have to sacrifice a planned transfer and react in the wake of William Saliba’s injury at the World Cup
Arsenal are facing a nightmare scenario with William Saliba after the Frenchman made worse the back injury that was known to be a problem this World Cup. French outlet L’Equipe claim that surgery is ‘likely’ and could see Saliba miss as many as four to five months of action.
France’s responsibilities at the World Cup are not yet over. They will play England on Saturday at the third-place play-off, or as it is now called: The Bronze Final.
For Saliba, though, his tournament is most definitely done, and it leaves Arsenal with the question of how they must handle the situation. Currently, there is only one fit senior option at right centre half for Arsenal, Cristhian Mosquera.
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The Spaniard has been a bargain signing at just £13million and has replaced Saliba before. When the Frenchman couldn’t continue against Liverpool at Anfield, Mosquera came on and did exceptionally well to stop the then-champions from scoring outside of Dominik Szoboszlai’s wonder free-kick.
But alone, Mosquera cannot hold down the position. Ben White is recovering from injury, as is Jurrien Timber, and while both can be options at centre-half, their best comes at right-back.
Marli Salmon, the 16-year-old who turns 17 next month, is highly rated at the club and can play both roles. While Jaden Dixon also made his debut last season, and at 19 is another player the club identified as a talented option.
But the reality is that a signing is most certainly required. The worry is that with such a determination to spend big in the forward line and midfield, it could come at the cost of another transfer, potentially on the left.
Arsenal have been looking for a versatile full-back option football.london understands. But with this new injury, sporting director Andrea Berta and head of scouting Maurizio Micheli now need to change the tactics and find a solution as soon as possible.
Where a left-sided player was being thought of, with links to now Bayern Munich full-back Nathaniel Brown, instead, the right-hand side will take precedence.
