Thierry Henry reacts to Bukayo Saka injury for Arsenal v Lens

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Legendary former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry has responded to seeing Bukayo Saka sustain an injury against Lens.

Not only did Arsenal suffer a 2-1 defeat in the Champions League against Lens on Tuesday evening, but Bukayo Saka also had to be taken off in the first half due to an injury concern.

The 22-year-old winger will now be a major doubt for Sunday’s Premier League clash with reigning champions Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium.

The loss of Saka is a huge blow for the Gunners. Mikel Arteta is hugely reliant on the 30-cap England international. He is an ever-present feature of the starting XI, and is one of the north London club’s most productive players in the final third.

Saka has started the new season in excellent form. The £195,000-a-week attacker has already racked up five goals and five assists across all competitions.

He will be hugely missed if he can’t play against Manchester City. What’s more, there isn’t a particularly obvious replacement for Saka in the Arsenal squad, who can replicate his style of play on the right wing.

Arsenal face sidelined Saka

Thierry Henry is deeply concerned about how his former club will cope with Saka’s absence. Speaking as a pundit on CBS Sports, the Frenchman said, “you lose, it can happen, but also it looks like you might have lost Bukayo Saka. People were talking about Rodri not playing at the weekend – suddenly, you don’t have your, for me in my eyes, the main man at Arsenal right now, playing against Man City at the weekend.”

Arteta does have quality options to pin his hopes on beyond Saka. The likes of Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Jesus, and Leandro Trossard, amongst others, all have the capacity to hurt Manchester City. However, that does not negate the loss of Saka.

It will be fascinating to see how the Spanish coach responds to this setback. Of course, it could still be the case that Saka is available to start on Sunday. The Hale End academy graduate has shown remarkable durability and powers of recovery in the past.