Arsenal face another injury crisis after Gabriel Magalhaes went down in the win over Fulham midweek.
The star defender is now a major doubt for the Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid and the remainder of the season.
But Mikel Arteta is dealing with a number of issues, with defence an especially weak area currently with Ben White and Jurrien Timber, two possible replacements for the Brazilian, also sidelined.
A positive has been the return of Bukayo Saka, who struck minutes after stepping back onto the pitch against the Whites on Tuesday in what Arteta described as “a beautiful moment”.
Here are the major injury problems and doubts for Arteta and the Gunners before Everton in the Premier League this weekend and that crucial first leg against Los Blancos in north London:
Gabriel Magalhaes
The Brazilian went down in the first half of Tuesday’s Premier League match against Fulham and will now have scans to determine the severity of the issue, feared to be a hamstring injury.
Gabi felt something in his hamstring, we don’t know how big that is,” Arteta said.
Potential return date: Unknown
Riccardo Calafiori
The Italian sustained a serious knee injury during the international break, slipping and then twisting violently during the first leg of the Nations League quarter-final tie against Germany in Milan.
The defender is facing “weeks” out according to Arteta as he attends to the problematic left knee: "Riccardo [Calafiori] unfortunately picked up a knee injury with the national team. It could have been much worse. Hopefully it’s only a matter of weeks."
Potential return date: May 2025
Jurrien Timber
The Dutch defender recovered from illness after dropping out of international duty with Netherlands, but went down after a clash of knees in the Fulham match.
The issue persisted despite continuing with further treatment from the physio in the second half before being forced off.
“We don’t know how they are going to be. We will be assessing them tomorrow and understand better how we are with those two,” Arteta said. ““If there are two players in this team who never want to come off, it’s those two probably ... [Timber] was already was struggling very early in the game. He managed to continue and at some point he couldn’t. That’s the downside. Jurrien was a knee [injury].”
Potential return date: Unknown
Ben White
White suffered a knee injury during training on Monday, adding to Arteta’s woes for the run-in: “He had a little niggle two days ago. Yesterday we tried, he wasn’t feeling right, so we decided not to put him in the squad today. It was something on his knee.”
The severity of the issue remains unclear, meaning White could emerge as an emergency option for Everton and Real Madrid with other options more than likely sidelined.
Potential return date: Unknown
Kai Havertz
The German forward is out for the remainder of the season after surgery to fix a severe hamstring injury suffered in a training session during the warm-weather training camp in Dubai.
Potential return date: Start of 2025/26 season.
Gabriel Jesus
The Brazilian was ruled out for the season after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury during the FA Cup third round defeat against Manchester United. Jesus is a doubt for the start of next season
Potential return date: September 2025
Takehiro Tomiyasu
Tomiyasu has endured a tough season with a series of injury problems, with knee surgery in February the latest setback ruling him out for the season.
Potential return date: November or December 2025