Arsenal fear Bukayo Saka could miss six to eight weeks after Bayern injury
Bukayo Saka could be sidelined for at least six weeks after being substituted early in Wednesday's 2-2 Champions League draw with Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena, Arsenal say, and the 25-year-old will have an MRI on Friday afternoon to assess the problem.
Club medics have reported fluid around the affected quadriceps muscle, which has complicated diagnosis, and early examinations point to a minimum absence of six weeks with the possibility it could be longer. "We need a few more scans and opinions from the specialists," Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta said. "When a player has to walk off the pitch, he is struggling to walk without any pain, and is restricted to movement; it is not a good sign. Let's be a little bit patient so we can give a definitive assessment." He added: "He's got another MRI as there was quite a lot of fluid in the area so it was quite difficult to understand the extent of the injury. We will know more tomorrow."
Saka will miss Saturday's home Premier League match against Everton, with second-placed Arsenal aiming to close a three-point gap on leaders Manchester City, and the winger has scored four goals in 11 appearances so far this season.
The academy graduate has had fitness problems in recent months and his playing time was managed at the end of last season and during England duty at the World Cup because of an Achilles issue sustained in March; he missed the March international break and seven games for Arsenal before returning to help the club win the Premier League title for the first time in 22 years.
Saka started the Champions League final defeat by Paris St-Germain but was substituted after 54 minutes, and he began only three of England's eight World Cup matches, scoring a hat-trick in the 6-4 third-place win over France. He underwent surgery on a hamstring injury picked up in December 2024 that kept him out for 101 days in the 2024-25 campaign and made 49 appearances as Arsenal won the title last term.
Last season Saka also suffered Achilles, hip and hamstring problems; he pulled out of a January match against Leeds with a hip issue in the warm-up and a hamstring problem sidelined him for about four weeks, and Arteta has said Saka's robustness and availability has "certainly been different in the last year or so".
Arsenal's inability to sign a top forward in the summer, following unsuccessful pursuits of Vinicius Jr and Julian Alvarez, left them to bring in Greece international Christos Tzolis, who is currently injured, and to rely on alternatives including Noni Madueke, Eberechi Eze and 16-year-old Max Dowman. Dowman has had limited minutes this season but Arteta has spoken positively about his talent and ability to impact matches.
The club say follow-up scans are required and medical staff view a potential absence of up to eight weeks as possible; if those early concerns are realised Saka would miss a series of important fixtures for Arsenal and England's forthcoming Uefa Nations League matches against Croatia and Spain.
