Catch all the latest Arsenal news, including updates on Riccardo Calafiori’s latest injury setback, William Saliba’s performance for France, Myles Lewis-Skelly’s England record and another Nico Williams transfer update.
Arsenal and international breaks have not gone well this season with Martin Odegaard picking up an ankle injury in September’s break before Bukayo Saka first tweaked his hamstring playing for England in October.
Mikel Arteta will be desperate for a clean bill of health for his returning Arsenal stars as the international period gets underway with games coming thick and fast from all over the world.
The Gunners attentions will be firmly on preparing for their Champions League clash with Real Madrid in April and will want the break to pass smoothly.
So with that said, here’s a look at the latest Arsenal news ahead of another busy day.
Riccardo Calafiori leaves Italy camp with injury
Riccardo Calafiori has had his first season in North London hampered by injuries and it seems he is set for his latest setback following Italy’s clash with Germany in the UEFA Nations League.
The defender appeared to fall heavily on his knee and twisted in the action, sparking concerns of a MCL injury.
An expert on X, Physio Scout has predicted: “Body weight over the left knee, stressing the medial side of the knee brings concern for an MCL injury mainly.”
Fabrizio Romano also confirmed that Calafiori had left the Italy camp and was heading back to be further assessed by the Arsenal medical staff.
Read more on Calafiori’s injury setback.
French media slam William Saliba’s performance
William Saliba’s France side lost 2-0 to Croatia in the first leg of the UEFA Nations League play off tie and the Arsenal defender did not have his greatest night.
Saliba was at fault for the first goal as he allowed Ante Budimir to get across him too easily and power a header towards goal that lead to the ball finding the back of the net.
His highest match rating from any French media outlet was only 4/10 and GFFN stated: “Caught napping, the Arsenal defender was largely at fault for the opening goal as he failed to track the run of Ante Budimir allowing the forward to escape in behind him and head home unmarked. He never looked convincing alongside Konate at the heart of the defence.”
Read more on French media’s verdict on Saliba.
Myles Lewis-Skelly breaks England record
Myles Lewis-Skelly celebrated his first England cap under new manager Thomas Tuchel and made an immediate impact in England’s World Cup qualifier against Albania.
The Hale End graduate scored twenty minutes into his debut after a sublime pass from Jude Bellingham put him through on goal and the defender calmly slotted the ball home.
With that goal, Lewis-Skelly became the youngest player to score on his Three Lions debut and he continues to take the footballing world by storm.
Read more on Lewis-Skelly’s England history.
Arsenal ahead of Bayern Munich in Nico Williams race
Nico Williams has been linked with Arsenal for a while and it appears that the Gunners will be doing everything to get their man in the summer.
Arsenal desperately need to add firepower to their attack and Williams would provide that pace and trickery often missing on the wings for Arteta’s side.
German journalist Christian Falk via the Daily Briefing has stated that Arsenal are leading the race to sign Williams and are even ahead of European giants Bayern Munich in the race.
The Spanish winger has a £48m release clause that either club would have no problem in triggering but it seems that Arsenal are ahead in terms of the preference of the player himself.
Read more on Arsenal lead race for Nico Williams.
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