Arsenal hit with early injury concern as £50m player misses training ahead of Leeds game

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Arsenal’s luck on the injury front last season seems to be carrying over to the 2025/26 campaign. 

One factor behind the Gunners not winning silverware last season was key absences. 

Arsenal struggled with injury throughout the 2024/25 campaign, losing key players at crucial moments for long spells. 

The likes of Ben White, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Magalhaes, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus missed large chunks of the season and had to undergo surgery, piling the pressure on Mikel Arteta. 

The Arsenal manager really had to show his adaptability last term, and already, he’s being tested in that department. 

Ben White one of three players absent from Arsenal training 

After Arsenal’s opening day win over Manchester United, it was revealed that new signing Christian Norgaard didn’t make the squad due to a small injury. 

On the opening day, Arsenal had an absence, and with the second fixture of the campaign in sight, that number could grow. 

Reporting live from an opening training session at the Emirates, journalist Simon Collings spotted three players missing.

Amongst the missing players was one starter from the win at Old Trafford, as Ben White was not seen with the team.

Collings noted that there was ‘no sign’ of White, Kai Havertz and Norgaard.

If White did pick up an injury, it would be a huge shame, as the £50m signing finally returned to the starting XI in the Premier League after an injury-tainted 2024/25 season. 

How many games did White miss in 2024/25?

Some believe that White shouldn’t be part of Arteta’s favoured XI, with Jurrien Timber taking the Englishman’s spot last term.

After White impressed over pre-season, there was a sign that the right-back’s old ways could come back into play, but already, his plan to keep his place is in jeopardy. 

The last thing the 27-year-old will want is another injury, having missed so much last season.

White was absent for 27 games over the 2024/25 campaign due to injury, watching from the sidelines as Timber took his spot in the starting lineup.

It would be a dire shame for the defender to suffer a setback so early into the new season, with the hope that his absence was merely a precaution.