Mikel Arteta has confirmed Bukayo Saka is available for Arsenal‘s Premier League encounter against Fulham on Tuesday and could even start the match.
The England international has not been seen in an Arsenal shirt since December due to hamstring injury he suffered at Crystal Palace in a 5-1 win. Saka has been slowly working his way back to fitness and returned to full training over the international break, so Arteta’s news did not come as a shock on Monday.
“Bukayo is ready to go,” the Gunners manager confidently declared. “The careful things are already done. Now it’s about putting him in the grass in the right moments.
“He is pushing because he wants it. We have respected the timeframe; we have done everything. We have to hold him back, even. He is ready to go.
“It’s another massive weapon to have him. We know the impact he has had on the team and how important his role and his contribution is to our success. It’s great to have him back.”
In Saka’s absence, Arsenal has all but dropped out of the title race, with the London club 12 points off pacesetters Liverpool as the Premier League returns for the final furlongs of the 2024/25 campaign. The top two have nine games remaining respectively and it will take a huge swing of results for the Gunners to claw back the deficit to Liverpool.
But, as Saka returns, there was more negative news for Arsenal on the injury front, with confirmation Riccardo Calafiori is set for a spell on the sidelines. He picked up the fresh problem during the international break, when his knee buckled awkwardly in Italy’s 2-1 defeat to Germany.
(Image: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
After being sent for scans, Arteta revealed on the defender will not be available against Fulham, but the problem is not as bad as first feared.
“Riccardo, unfortunately, picked up an injury again with the national team. It was really unfortunate with the way it happened and it could have been much worse. Hopefully it is going to be matter of weeks and we need to see how that injury evolves.”
Meanwhile, Jurrien Timber will be back for the Fulham game after missing both of the Netherlands’ games over the international break due to illness. “Jurrien was ill for a long period, quite badly,” said Arteta. “He feels much better now and is available.”
On returning from the international break, Arteta added: “It’s great. Obviously we had a good time to reflect to reset and out ourselves in a really good position to go for the most exciting part of the season.”
The Gunners will be without Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Takehiro Tomiyasu for the midweek clash against Marco Silva’s side.
