Arsenal Handed Injury Blow As Noni Madueke Faces Six To Eight Weeks Out

Arsenal have been dealt a setback with Noni Madueke expected to spend at least six weeks on the sidelines after injuring his knee in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Manchester City.

Noni Madueke, a 23-year-old England international, who arrived from Chelsea during the summer transfer window, was withdrawn at half-time after feeling discomfort early in the game. Although initial scans suggest he has avoided a dreaded ACL injury, further tests are needed to confirm the full extent of the damage.

Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie with Port Vale, Mikel Arteta admitted the winger could be out for several weeks.

“It looks like Noni is going to be out for a few weeks, but we don’t really know yet, we will have to scan him next week again,” the Arsenal manager said. “He felt something at the beginning of the match and tried to carry on but it was too sore, so let’s see.”

Pressed on whether the layoff would be weeks rather than months, Arteta was cautiously optimistic. He said, “We hope so. Like I said, we need to scan him again to see the extent of the injury but it doesn’t look too bad.”

Medical staff are still waiting for swelling around the knee to settle before giving a definitive diagnosis, but the current expectation is that Madueke will be unavailable until November at the earliest.

That would see him miss a run of important Premier League games as well as Champions League fixtures, including a potential return against Sunderland on November 8. Should his recovery progress well, he could even feature in the north London derby against Tottenham on November 23.

The injury is a major frustration for both Arteta and England manager Thomas Tuchel. Madueke has been in encouraging form at the start of the campaign and was in line to feature in England’s fixtures against Wales and Latvia. His absence also makes him a doubt for the World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Albania later in the year.

Source: Naijanews