Bukayo Saka injury latest as expert reveals concerns Arsenal will be investigating

Bukayo Saka is on course to return from injury within four weeks following his latest hamstring problem with Arsenal working on ‘extremely detailed’ plans to sure it doesn’t happen again this season.

The Gunners star was forced off in the second-half of Saturday’s 5-0 thumping of Leeds United, left looking dejected as he left the pitch clutching his left hamstring with Mikel Arteta initially fearing he had suffered a ‘significant’ injury.  

Saka missed three-and-half months of action last season after undergoing surgery on his right hamstring but the prognosis for his latest issue is more positive.

Stephen Smith, CEO and founder of Kitman Labs which specialises in injury welfare and performance analytics working with the Premier League, told Metro: ‘It does look like a more shorter term injury when you compare it to the injury he suffered last year.

‘With Saka, it is most likely a grade 1 or a low-level grade 2. A grade 1 injury is generally where there is pain and swelling but no or minimum fiber disruption. So there is a minimal amount of the muscle that has become damaged or inflamed.

‘A grade 2 is there a small amount of fiber disruption so it means the muscle has torn slightly and a grade 3 is a complete rupture.

‘In a scenario where you have someone like Saka who is returning in a three-to-four-week period it is generally a grade 1 or a low level grade 2.’

‘Arsenal trying to understand why this happened again’

While the additions of Viktor Gyokeres, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke will ease the creative and goal scoring burden on Saka, his presence will be missed, starting on Sunday against Liverpool at Anfield.

The gap between Arsenal and Liverpool was just three points last season when injury struck on 21 December. A 12-point chasm separated them by the time he returned to action in April.

There was of course relief when it emerged this week Saka was looking at a month out – a period that also straddles the September international break.

While Arsenal will be thankful a return to action is not too far away, the club’s staff will be wary of recurrences that could further problems. Given how recently Saka suffered his previous serious hamstring injury, the club will be ‘peeling back all the layers’ to ensure no more problems arise.

‘While we can sit here and say “it is not that big a deal, its only three or four weeks”, it is 10 per cent of his season gone. If he gets another one its 20 per cent of his season gone. He can change the course of a game and a season,’ Smith continued.

‘The club will be looking into it all the time, trying to understand why the injury last year happened and what the rationale is on this one happening this year. Did we do something on that previous rehab which was does in a really robust and resilient way that we didn’t do on the newly injured side? Or could there be an underlying issue? They will be peeling back the layers on all of that to see what is driving it and how they can stop this thing happening again.

‘They will be looking at what he looked like before the first injury, what he looked like before the second injury and how he responds and he recovers. They will be getting extremely detailed.

‘That injury last year that required surgery was really substantial. If they don’t get this one right and he has a recurrence of that and requires surgery again, it could be another two or three months and half your season is gone.’

Martin Odegaard injury latest ahead of Liverpool clash

Martin Odegaard meanwhile was also forced off in the win over Leeds with a shoulder problem. As was the case with Saka, the injury was not as bad as first feared and while there has been no indication yet whether he will be ready for Liverpool, his inclusion in the Norway squad for next week’s World Cup qualifiers bodes well.

‘Arsenal will absolutely already know at this stage what the issue and if he is going to be out for a prolonged period of time. They would know within 48 hours,’ Smith said.

‘With this injury, football would be very different compared to something like rugby or American football. There are obviously certain requirements, and you still need to be very physical but in football, there is little bit more tolerance.

‘They can probably manage him through that without interrupting things too much on the training pitch. They could make him non-contact (in training), keep him out there, keep him on the ball to keep those aspects fresh and it would be minimally invasive compared to a hamstring or groin injury.’