Arsenal centre-forward Eddie Nketiah has taken to social media to update Gunners supporters on his recent ankle injury.
Nketiah missed the matchday squad for Saturday's dramatic 3-2 victory over Bournemouth, with manager Mikel Arteta confirming that the seriousness of the knock remains uncertain ahead of the Premier League clash. "We are assessing him," Arteta said during his pre-match press conference last week when asked about the 23-year-old.
"It's a bit uncertain what will happen with him to be honest in the training sessions." The Spaniard continued: "Let’s see, let’s keep the options open. He’s very positive about it and hopefully he’ll be fine."
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The Gunners will make a late decision in the coming days as to whether to take Nketiah to Lisbon or not for Thursday's Europa League clash against Sporting CP. Now, the player has taken to Instagram, posting a picture captioned: "Minor setback, major comeback!"
This seems to suggest that he will not feature against Ruben Amorim's side in what would be a major blow to Arteta considering first-choice striker Gabriel Jesus and January signing Leandro Trossard are also unlikely to make the trip to Portugal. Jesus has been sidelined since sustaining a knee injury back in November 2022 during Brazil's World Cup campaign in Qatar, although he is getting closer to a return after being spotted doing a cool down session with Arsenal's unused substitutes after the Bournemouth game.
Meanwhile, Trossard was forced off after just 22nd minutes against the Cherries with a groin problem but football.london understands that the early prognosis on the Belgian's injury is that it is not thought to be serious. The prolific attacker will continue to be assessed, but the early signs are that his knock isn't a particularly severe one.
Gabriel Martinelli will therefore likely lead Arsenal's frontline on Thursday evening having played through the middle after Trossard was taken off on Saturday. The 21-year-old has been in fine form recently, netting four goals in his last four outings.
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