Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin picked up a knee ligament injury during his side’s 2-1 defeat to West Brom on Saturday.
BREAKING NEWS: Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin out for two months with knee injury. More on #SSNHQ
— Sky Sports News HQ (@SkySportsNewsHQ) November 23, 2015
Arsene Wenger has confirmed that the injury, initially thought to require only two months to heal, will keep Coquelin on the sidelines for “a minimum of 12 weeks.”
The good news is that the Frenchman will not be needing surgery on his knee, which was injured in a tackle with West Brom’s Claudio Yacob.
The bad news is that Coquelin is now the eighth player to be added to Arsenal’s lengthy injured list, joining Danny Welbeck, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott, and Michael Arteta, who picked up a calf injury during the Gunners’ defeat to West Brom as well.
Mathieu Flamini and Santi Cazorla are Arsenal’s only fit central midfielders at the moment, and Wenger will likely have to rush others back to health sooner than expected. He has also suggested the possibility of moving players, such as Calum Chambers, to the midfield.
However, there is still another positive to be found for the Gunners, and that is that Wenger expects Oxlade-Chamberlain and Walcott to be fit for Arsenal’s final Champions League match against Olympiakos on 9 December. The English team currently sit third in their group after several less than satisfactory displays in Europe.
