Injuries are part and parcel of football. Arsenal experienced a fair share of them throughout the 2021/22 season with two, in particular, proving to be costly.
During the festive period when Granit Xhaka returned to action and after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was phased out when Mikel Arteta had a fully fit squad available for selection, it didn't take a lot of guesswork with regards to what was his strongest starting XI week-in, week-out.
In fact, the only position that was up for debate was on the left-hand side of the front three with Emile Smith Rowe and Gabriel Martinelli in direct competition to start alongside Bukayo Saka and Alexandre Lacazette - then Eddie Nketiah towards the end of the season.
READ MORE: Arsenal youngsters provide hope for exciting future but January transfer window gamble backfires
However, after the January transfer window closed, Arteta was not once able to get his first-choice Arsenal XI out on the pitch. Yes, suspensions and positive covid-19 tests played a part, but for the most part, the lack of player availability was largely down to injuries.
The main casualties were Kieran Tierney and Thomas Partey. The former sustained a knee injury prior to the 3-0 loss at Crystal Palace before the latter came off during the same game with a calf issue. Subsequently, they missed the final six weeks of the season and its case of what could have been in the top-four race had they managed to stay fit.
But this is not a new problem. Both players have struggled with their fitness since joining Arsenal in the summer of 2019 and 2020 respectively. Neither Tierney nor Partey have completed a full season without spending a period of time in the treatment room and that may explain this summer's plans in terms of transfers and a contract renewal.
Overall, across 45 games across all competitions during the 2021/22 campaign, Tierney missed 13 games and it was 14 for Partey. That's almost a third of the season for both players and with Arsenal back in Europe next season a repeat simply can't happen.
Knowing how unreliable they are, perhaps Arteta should have managed them a bit more carefully and used his squad more. After all, Nuno Tavares and Mohamed Elneny were always the backup options so that Tierney and Partey weren't overplayed, yet Arteta didn't turn to them until the worst-case scenario had been realised.
The good news is that lessons appear to have been learned. Firstly football.london understands the Gunners are tracking Bologna full-back Aaron Hickey who could provide better cover for Tierney than Tavares following his mixed debut season and also for Takehiro Tomiyasu who also ended up missing 13 games with calf and hamstring injuries.
Meanwhile, the decision to offer Elneny a contract extension does make sense as he proved during the final seven games of the season that he can step into the 'Partey role' thus allowing the Ghana international more time to rest and hopefully that brings about a cure to his injury issues.
With Bukayo Saka, Aaron Ramsdale, Benjamin White, Gabriel Magalhaes and Martin Odegaard all clocking up over 3,000 minutes across all competitions during the 2021/22 campaign, they can forge a core group whom Arteta can rely upon next term. Perhaps Tierney and Partey can force their way in, but that is dependent on them steering clear of injury and that's where a deal for Hickey and a new contract for Elneny can prove vital.
