Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Mikel Arteta has given his view on Granit Xhaka’s injury.
The Swiss midfielder picked up a knee problem against Tottenham over the weekend in bizarre circumstances.
Lucas Moura had been tackled by one of Xhaka’s teammates, and unfortunately for the 29-year-old, the Brazilian took a tumble and collided with his knee, causing ligament damage that will keep him out for around three months.
Arteta says that Xhaka was in fact lucky to not be more seriously injured at the weekend.
What’s been said?
The Arsenal manager was speaking about Xhaka’s injury.
“It’s really bad news personally for Granit. He’s a strong man and will use this time to focus on other things. He’s a big player for us and he’s really important, he’ll be missed. Other players have to step in,” Arteta said.
“It’s a significant injury. He probably escaped an even worse injury than he could have had. His mentality is top, he knows what he needs to do now. Hopefully he can escape surgery which is important.”
Could have been worse
Arteta says that Xhaka is quite lucky to have escaped a more serious injury, and we have to agree.
Knee problems can be very serious, especially when ligaments are involved, and the incident with Xhaka and Lucas was a recipe for disaster.
Xhaka’s leg was planted when Lucas bundled into him and he didn’t see the impact coming, so he wasn’t braced for it at all.
We’ve seen ACL tears happen like this in the past, but luckily, Xhaka has avoided that fate and faces just three months on the sideline instead of what could potentially have been the rest of the season.
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