‘We’ll Have a Decision’: William Saliba Hands Arsenal Injury Boost

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed William Saliba is back in training ahead of their clash with Nottingham Forest.

Saliba came off inside five minutes of the narrow defeat to Liverpool —which came courtesy of Dominik Szoboszlai’s stunning free-kick—having picked up an ankle injury in the warmup. Arteta subsequently revealed that Saliba had tried to play on through the pain barrier but was unable to do so, resulting in summer signing Cristhian Mosquera playing the majority of the match.

A previous report indicated that 24-year-old Saliba could miss up to a month of action, but Arteta sought to put those rumours to bed when he spoke to the media on Friday.

“Wilo trained today, so we’ll have a decision to make whether we play him or not, it's very good news,” Arteta confirmed. The Spaniard also has Piero Hincapié at his disposal now despite only training two days with the team.

Forest visit Emirates Stadium with Ange Postecoglou now in charge following Nuno Espírito Santo’s sudden dismissal. The Australian, who was sacked by Tottenham Hotspur at the end of last season despite winning the Europa League, has penned an 18-month contract at the City Ground, but has an injury woe of his own to contend with as he prepares to oversee his first game.

Starting right back Ola Aina is expected to miss up to three months of action after picking up a hamstring injury while on international duty—Arsenal look to have escaped any further problems from the two-week break but will still be without Bukayo Saka.

“Let’s see, he’s evolving really well, with very specific work at the moment,” Arteta said of his star winger. “The moment that we increase that load, let’s see how he reacts.”

Other injury updates included Ben White returning to training, while Kai Havertz is progressing towards a return to action after undergoing knee surgery.