William Saliba injury absence to be forgotten thanks to pair of key Arsenal factors
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(Credit: Imago, Hasan Karim - Breaking Media)
Oliver Walton
Sun 7 September 2025 15:35, UK
Arsenal are set to be without William Saliba for up to a month after he picked up an injury but Mikel Arteta will not be sweating over his absence for two major reasons.
Saliba has been brilliant for Arsenal in recent seasons, and is now looked at as one of the outstanding centre-backs in world football.
He has formed one of the best defensive partnerships in world football with Gabriel Magalhaes in recent seasons, and has won big-time suitors after Football Insider revealed in May that Real Madrid’s interest in Saliba is unlikely to go away anytime soon.
The Gunners’ defence has started this season in unsurprisingly imperious fashion, with just one goal conceded in their first three league games, but a new issue has emerged after Saliba pulled out of the France squad due to an injury he picked up in their last outing against Liverpool.
L’Equipe have reported that the Frenchman could face up to a month on the sidelines with an ankle issue, and while Arsenal fans and Mikel Arteta might have worried about his absence in years gone by, they can rest easy in the knowledge that he will barely be missed because of two key factors.
Credit: Imago
Arsenal have missed Saliba in the past, with his back injury at the end of the 2022/23 season looked at as a major reason for their drop off from top of the table in March to second place by the end of the campaign.
Back then it was Rob Holding who filled in for him next to Gabriel, while Jakub Kiwior was next in line to play despite his inexperience, and both struggled to ever replicate the Frenchman’s outstanding form.
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Even as recently as last season, Arsenal conceded five goals in the three league games in which he was either injured or suspended, with a reshuffle of the back four seeing Thomas Partey having to fill in at right-back to the Gunners’ disadvantage.
Copyright: Joaquin Corchero
Things are much different now, however, after some stellar summer business set Arteta’s squad up perfectly to be able to replace Saliba with strong, promising defenders in either Christhian Mosquera or Piero Hincapie.
Mosquera joined Arsenal from Valencia in July for £13million [ESPN], and he has arrived with a great reputation in Spain at just 21-years-old, with 79 appearances for his boyhood club in the last two seasons.
He is an uncompromising but agile centre-back, and he shone off the bench against Liverpool in place of Saliba, despite their defeat, with 92% pass accuracy, the most tackles won in the match (two), four of his five ground duels won and four clearances in 85 minutes [Fotmob].
Arteta also has the quality and top-level experience of fellow new recruit Hincapie to call upon if needed in the next few weeks, after he moved to the Emirates Stadium on loan from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer window.
The Ecuador international made 26 appearances in Leverkusen’s unbeaten 2023/24 Bundesliga title season, and was also named in Kicker’s Bundesliga Team of the Season last term.
Arsenal fans were excited at Hincapie’s arrival due to his quality and experience at just 23-years-old, and much like Mosquera, he should be able to slot seamlessly into the Gunners’ starting eleven when called upon in the next month.
Credit: Manh Tung, Breaking Media
Saliba is not the only key Arsenal player who has been facing some time on the sidelines, with Bukayo Saka still out injured after he suffered a hamstring problem in their 5-0 win against Leeds United.
Arteta’s side may have slipped to a late defeat against title-rivals Liverpool, but that was through no fault of stand-in right winger Noni Madueke, who was their most dangerous player throughout the game at Anfield.
AppearancesGoalsAssists70137Madueke’s Premier League career stats
He is another summer signing who could be handed more chances to shine in the weeks to come as his compatriot continues his recovery, and if his performance against the Reds is anything to go by, then Arsenal should still be able to keep up in the race at the top of the league.
Madueke also impressed in England’s 2-0 win over Andorra on Saturday (6 September) while playing on the right side of attack, where Saka would usually always start if fit, and so he has shown so far that he is capable of producing the goods for the Gunners in the absence of their star man.