Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has refused to rule Gabriel Magalhaes out for Sunday's trip to Newcastle United. The Brazilian defender was forced off against Chelsea on Tuesday night after needing attention on a number of occasions.
football.london understands that it was an ankle injury that forced him off before receiving treatment in the dressing room. However, he conducted post-match media duties with international broadcasters as usual upon his exit from the Emirates Stadium.
"We will have to see tomorrow how he is," Arteta explained. "He couldn't finish the game, so that's obviously a big sign. We will see how he is tomorrow."
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Should the 25 year-old be unavailable for the trip to Tyneside, the Gunners face the prospect of being without their two first-choice centre-backs with William Saliba's ongoing injury concern. The Frenchman has missed the last seven games after suffering a back injury against Sporting CP in March.
With supporters crossing their fingers and toes that Saliba would return, Arteta provided an update on his rehabilitation. "Not a lot of progress. He's feeling better every day but he's still not been able to have any activity around the first team so we don't expect him to be with us," the Spaniard explained.
"We are not there yet today [ruling him out for the season], because we're always hopeful and players are pushing to play. If that's the case at some stage we'll announce it. But hopefully that's not the case."
After confirming there are no other concerns to deal with, only Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mohamed Elneny are the two long-term absentees. Tomiyasu is facing missing out on the start of next season while Elneny will miss the remainder of the current campaign following surgery on his knee.
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