Gabriel Magalhaes is one of several Arsenal defenders currently sidelined with injury.
As Mikel Arteta is preparing his Arsenal squad for a Champions League showdown against Monaco on Wednesday evening, he is having to do so with an extremely depleted set of defensive options.
The Gunners are missing a number of key players at the back. Arteta provided an injury update yesterday, confirming that Riccardo Calafiori, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jurrien Timber, Thomas Partey, and Gabriel Magalhaes are all currently struggling.
On top of that, Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu are both already out of action for Arsenal.
What injury does Gabriel Magalhaes have?
Gabriel has been reliably present at the back for Arsenal for a long time. However, the Brazilian has not featured for the North London club since he was withdrawn at half-time from a Premier League clash against West Ham United.
As quoted by The Standard, Arteta has now explained the true nature of the centre-back’s injury, revealing that he is suffering with a muscle issue.
The Spanish coach added: “Big Gabi has not had a muscular injury [before, but] he is playing a lot now, he is travelling, going to Brazil, he is a starter with Brazil.”
Gabriel is relied upon to play a lot of minutes for Arsenal, as he has formed a trusted partnership alongside William Saliba at the back.
Gabriel and Saliba have even been dubbed the best centre-back pairing in the Premier League. However, it now seems that Arteta will have to cope without one half of this duo for a while longer.
How will Arsenal cope without Gabriel vs Monaco?
Given all of the other injury issues Arteta is having to deal with at the back, replacing Gabriel in the starting XI is not a straightforward task.
Jakub Kiwior is the most likely candidate to deputise for the 26-year-old in the heart of the rearguard, but the Poland international could also be called upon to fill in at left-back.
Alternatively, Declan Rice can offer centre-back cover if required, having previously performed the role for West Ham United. However, Arteta would surely be reluctant to withdraw Rice from the midfield unit, especially with Partey likely to be out of action too.
There are options that the manager could call up from the Hale End academy system, such as Ayden Heaven, but it is hard to imagine that Arteta would hand a Champions League start against Monaco to the teenager who has only ever played 10 minutes of first team football for the Gunners, as a late substitute against Preston North End in the EFL Cup earlier this season.
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