Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain injury: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger hopes midfielder is not out 'for seven weeks'
Oxlade-Chamberlain suffered the injury in collision with Javier Mascherano
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Arsene Wenger revealed this morning that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could miss as many as seven weeks with a knee injury after being “cut in two” by Barcelona’s Javier Mascherano on Tuesday night.
The England midfielder is seeing a specialist this weekend with suspected knee ligament damage after limping out of Tuesday’s game. Wenger admitted that if the injury is as bad as feared, he will miss all of March and the start of April.
“He is devastated,” Wenger said at his pre-match press conference this morning. “Let’s hope that we get good news that it’s only two or three weeks, not six or seven.”
Oxlade-Chamberlain’s season has been affected by injury, but Wenger said this was a new problem, rather than the return of the old one.
“It is not a recurrence of a previous injury,” Wenger said. “It is a new injury. He has been cut in two by Mascherano and he did his knee. We have to see how big the damage is in his knee. Hopefully we will have good news later. I don’t think it was a malicious tackle, it was a fully committed tackle.”
With Oxlade-Chamberlain certain to miss Sunday’s trip to Manchester United, Wednesday’s game with Swansea City and the crucial north London derby next Saturday, Wenger will have to choose between Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck on the right wing.
Wenger said that he would not rush Welbeck back despite his recent promising performances.
“I haven’t picked my team yet for Sunday,” he said. “I cannot tell you that now at the moment. Welbeck is back in the squad but we still have to be cautious with him. He is still in the squad and he is not completely over his knee problem. He has done really well and is very fit. I have to analyse that.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments