It's looking like it will be touch and go as to whether William Saliba can make his return to action for Arsenal against Manchester City next Wednesday night.
The France international has been sidelined for over a month now after aggravating a back problem he picked up in the 3-0 victory over Fulham against Sporting CP in the Europa League and football.london understands he is unlikely to return to action on Friday night when Southampton visit the Emirates Stadium.
As a result, attentions turn to the trip to the Etihad Stadium five days later and Arsenal are refusing to rule out the possibility Mikel Arteta has Saliba available for selection once again in time for a fixture that will have major implications in this season's Premier League title race.
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Now, whilst the 22-year-old was in the gym earlier in the week alongside Mohamed Elneny, it should be noted that he is yet to return to full training with the rest of the first team group. However, he is said to be willing to do whatever it takes to be available against Pep Guardiola's side.
But even though Saliba might be ready to take a risk in the hope of aiding Arsenal's title challenge, it may not be something Arteta is entirely comfortable with as on numerous occasions in the past 12 months, the Spaniard has spoken about his reluctance to take any chances with injured players.
For example, during the closing stages of the Gunners' Europa League group stage win over FC Zurich, Takehiro Tomiyasu pulled up with a knock and was substituted immediately as his chances of making the Japan squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar were called into question.
"We don't know [on Tomiyasu]. He felt something and we didn't want to take any risks," he said. With the amount of games that we’re playing, it's part of it. It can happen in training, it can happen in games and unfortunately it happened to Tomi today. The rest of the players have to be ready because we're going to need everybody now."
Then looking back at last season in the north London derby away at Tottenham when Arteta didn't turn to a half-fit Benjamin White to come off the bench after Rob Holding had been sent off for two bookable offences in the first half, instead choosing to prioritise the next fixture.
"To take the risk in that situation with the game how it was didn't make any sense," he explained to the media. "Now the focus is on Newcastle. This game is history."
With regard to Saliba, the best decision would be to ease him back into action once he returns to full training, especially as Arteta knows all too well the importance of taking a cautious approach with his key players returning from injury after what happened with Thomas Partey against Tottenham a couple of seasons ago.
Making his first appearance in five games - the midfielder lasted just 45 minutes before sustaining a hip injury that kept him on the sidelines for the remainder of the year, and the Arsenal manager clearly learned from this mistake as he has since resisted the temptation to rush Partey back.
So taking Arteta's use of Partey when returning from injury into consideration, in addition to his clear reluctance to risk injured players can perhaps point to what's in store for Saliba against Man City as it's worth remembering that regardless of the result at the Etihad, five fixtures will be left to play and they'll be just as crucial.
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