LONDON — Arsenal fear Bukayo Saka could be out for up to eight weeks with the quadriceps injury he sustained in Wednesday's 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. The 25-year-old was substituted early in the Champions League group-stage clash and will undergo an MRI scan on Friday afternoon to better assess the problem.
Fluid around the affected muscle has made diagnosing the injury difficult, but club medics are estimating after early examinations that Saka will miss a minimum of six weeks and it could be longer. "We need a few more scans and opinions from the specialists," said Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta. "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." Arteta 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."
If those early concerns are realised, Saka will miss Saturday's home Premier League match against Everton, where second-placed Arsenal are hoping to close a three-point gap on leaders Manchester City, as well as England's forthcoming Uefa Nations League matches against Croatia and Spain. The blow comes just as the winger had been adapting his positioning to become a more regular goalscorer, with four goals in 11 appearances so far this season.
The Arsenal academy product has endured a stop-start 12 months for fitness. His game time was managed at the end of last season and with England at the World Cup because of an Achilles injury suffered in March, which saw him miss the March international break and seven matches for the Gunners before returning to help them lift the Premier League title for the first time in 22 years. He started the Champions League final defeat by Paris St-Germain but was substituted after 54 minutes, and started only three of England's eight games at the World Cup, scoring a hat-trick in the 6-4 third-place win over France. He also had surgery on a hamstring injury picked up in December 2024 which kept him out for 101 days in the 2024-25 campaign, made 49 appearances as Arsenal won the title last term despite pulling out of a game against Leeds in January with a hip injury in the warm-up and a separate hamstring problem that kept him out for about four weeks. Arteta acknowledged Saka's robustness and availability has "certainly been different in the last year or so".
The prospect of another extended absence leaves Arsenal short on the wing. The club tried to sign a world-class forward in the summer but were unsuccessful in pursuits of Vinicius Jr and Julian Alvarez, and while they did bring in Greece international Christos Tzolis, he is currently injured too. That has left Noni Madueke, Eberechi Eze and 16-year-old Max Dowman as the alternative wing options, with the teenager having had limited minutes this season despite Arteta speaking glowingly of his talent. The setback follows Kane's goal, assist and goal-kick in Bayern's 2-2 draw with Arsenal at the Allianz Arena.