Arsenal defender Ben White faces “months” on the sidelines, manager Mikel Arteta has revealed.
The 27-year-old has undergone surgery on a knee injury and will not be back until well into the new year.
“Ben White is going to be out for months, unfortunately,” said Arteta.
“He’s had different kinds of struggles. It’s never been the same thing but we had to make a decision.
“It hasn’t really improved in the last few weeks. We know that Ben is going to push every boundary but it got to a point that we had to protect the player and we decided to do the surgery.
“He agreed with that and obviously that’s going to keep him out for a few months. We have to see how he reacts to the surgery.
“I don’t expect it to be half a year, but I cannot say how long exactly.”
Arteta has at least been boosted by the news Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice have trained ahead of Saturday’s visit of Nottingham Forest after both withdrew from England duty.
Winger Leandro Trossard should be fit despite pulling up injured playing for Belgium.
“Trossard seems to be OK, he trained this morning (Friday) and is feeling good,” added Arteta.
“We will assess everything with the doctor but he was able to do part of that session so that’s good.
“Bakayo and Declan as well had their first sessions today – partial sessions – so that’s very good as well.”
Riccardo Calafiori will also be back in the squad after missing the last five matches through injury.
The visit of Forest will be Arteta’s 250th in charge of the Gunners, who are currently fourth in the Premier League, nine points behind leaders Liverpool.
“I’m extremely grateful, very happy, I’ve enjoyed every minute,” he said.
“I understand how lucky I am to be sitting where I am. I feel huge pride to see what we transmit as a football club, as a team.
“But it is about winning in the end. You want to win more, you want to win big trophies, and we are on that journey.”
