Mikel Arteta has told Football London that Arsenal defenders Pablo Mari and Calum Chambers won’t be back in time for the start of next season.
Chambers and Mari have both picked up serious injuries, and it seems that the Arsenal pair could be ruled out for months yet.
Arsenal do have William Saliba set to arrive next term, which should bolster their defensive options.
But when asked whether Saliba’s arrival would provide Arsenal with more centre-backs to pick from, Arteta said: “We will see because Pablo won’t be available to start the season and Calum won’t be available to start the season.
“We have nine games left until the end of the season, a lot of things can happen.
“William has had a lot of issues this season with injuries as well so he’s not been stable in that sense so let’s wait and see. At the moment we’re going to have options and we’ll consider the situation and what is best to do in the future but we don’t have much stability there at the moment.”
Arsenal supporters are certainly excited about the impending arrival of Saliba.
The French defender is rated as one of the hottest defensive prospects in Ligue 1, and he should improve the quality of their backline when he does arrive.
Arsenal have struggled at the back this term, with Arteta failing to find a particularly reliable central defensive partnership.
That being said, Arsenal have only conceded once in their last three outings, and have now won their last three matches on the spin.
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