Arsenal will be giving strong consideration to bringing Bukayo Saka back against Manchester City this weekend.
While Noni Madueke has impressively stepped up in his absence, the Gunners have been without Saka since the second week of the new Premier League season.
The England international was forced off in the 5-0 victory over Leeds United in mid-August. Having missed three months of last season with a hamstring tear that required surgery, there were fresh fears for the winger but there was encouraging news when scans revealed his latest problem was not as bad as first feared.
Reports claimed Saka was facing a spell of three to four weeks out, a timescale that leaves him in contention to return to action this weekend.
Mikel Arteta has typically kept his cards close to his chest discussing Saka’s return, explaining this week his winger ‘still has quite a lot of things to go through’.
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But Stephen Smith, CEO and founder of Kitman Labs which specialises in injury welfare and performance analytics, believes lots will be going on behind the scenes to ensure Saka is in contention to return on Sunday.
Saka did not travel with the squad to Spain for Arsenal’s Champions League opener against Athletic Bilbao but Smith believes he will have been gradually reintroduced to training this week.
Smith diagnosed Saka’s hamstring issue as a grade 1 or a low-level grade 2, fitting into that initial three-to-four-week timeline.
Arsenal will continue to carefully monitor how he responds in training leading up to Sunday’s game at the Emirates. If Saka comes through unscathed after ‘two to three sessions’ on the training pitch, a return against City could be on the cards.
‘Players in this situation are generally going to slot back in and train two or three times before they are available for selection,’ Smith told Metro.
‘Not just the manager but the medical team will want to make sure they have been gradually exposed to all aspects of training. My understanding is that he did at least the first 15 minutes of training session on Monday before they went off (to Spain for the Champions League game).
‘That would be very normal for what we see in terms of a gradual return we are talking about here. You would see them pop in and maybe do a third of the session. Next time they might do a half of a session.
‘Or maybe they do the entire session but sit out of the most high intensity parts that incorporates the most intensive accelerating, decelerating, or sprinting. For someone who has had multiple hamstring issues, you are looking at a two-to-three session registration plan before they get back to the volume and distance that they would normally cover in a game. Now they can slowly re-integrate him back into the type of high intensity activities they will be exposed to in real match practice.’
Of a possible return this weekend, Smith added: ‘It keeps within that timeline for a grade 2 hamstring strain so that is probably about right. So it is likely they are targeting, or at least having a very good look to see, if he can have some involvement in the City game.’
Arsenal have been dealing with a number of injury problems early on in the season but could be over the worst of it.
Maritn Odegaard was forced off in the 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest last time out with a shoulder problem – the same shoulder he injured against Leeds in August. The Gunners captain could also be pushing for a return to action this weekend, however.
William Saliba meanwhile was forced off early on in the game against Liverpool before the international games, missing wins over Forest and Athletic. But having returned to training last week, he will be firmly in contention to start on Sunday.
