Mikel Arteta has suffered another injury blow, revealing that Ethan Nwaneri was substituted at halftime during Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Brighton due to a muscular problem.
The 17-year-old winger had opened the scoring in the 16th minute of the game, stepping up to fill the gap left by Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling – who are both out injured.
Nwaneri’s impressive start at the Amex Stadium on Saturday afternoon marked his second consecutive game on the right flank. However, he did not return for the second half.
Initial speculation suggested Arteta substituted the teenager after he picked up a yellow card for time-wasting. But, the Arsenal manager later clarified to BBC Match of the Day that Nwaneri was withdrawn due to an injury concern.
Speaking after the game, the Spaniard said: ‘It’s really bad news because I think we’ve lost him [Nwaneri], we had to take him off at half-time with some muscular issues.’
Mikel Arteta has suffered another injury blow, revealing that Ethan Nwaneri was substituted at halftime during Arsenal ‘s 1-1 draw with Brighton due to a muscular problem
The 17-year-old winger had opened the scoring in the 16th minute of the game, stepping up to fill the gap left by Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling – who are both out injured
Initial speculation suggested Arteta substituted him after he picked up a yellow card for time-wasting. But, the Arsenal manager later clarified he was withdrawn due to an injury concern
The news of Nwaneri’s injury comes as a blow for Arteta given he had described the 17-year-old as a suitable replacement for Saka as he continues to recover from a torn hamstring.
When asked whether Nwaneri was the most natural replacement for Saka ahead of the fixture with Brighton on Saturday, Arteta said: ‘He’s a player that can play in various positions.’
The Arsenal manager went on to add: ‘It’s not a position that he’s played a lot when he was at academy level, but he can adapt to the demands that we have in two or three positions.
‘I think he did really well there.’
Saka had to be substituted after suffering his hamstring injury during the first half of Arsenal’s 5-1 win away to Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday, December 21.
Shortly after the incident, Saka posted a picture of himself on Instagram after undergoing surgery and vowed to come back stronger. While Arteta confirmed the starlet would be out of action for ‘many weeks’.
‘It’s not looking good. He’s going to be out for many weeks,’ said Arteta. ‘It’s a huge blow, but it’s going to be a big exercise for us to overcome another challenge.’
Arteta went on to confirm Saka had torn his hamstring before insisting his medical staff were working hard to prevent such problems in the future.
![Speaking after the game, the Spaniard said: 'It's really bad news because I think we've lost him [Nwaneri], we had to take him off at half-time with some muscular issues'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/04/20/93743221-14250475-image-a-22_1736023864957.jpg)
Speaking after the game, the Spaniard said: ‘It’s really bad news because I think we’ve lost him [Nwaneri], we had to take him off at half-time with some muscular issues’
Saka had to be substituted after suffering his hamstring injury during the first half of Arsenal’s 5-1 win away to Crystal Palace in December and underwent surgery
Arteta is also having to manage Declan Rice’s minutes after he felt ‘some niggles’
‘Probably there are ways to prevent the injury,’ added Arteta. There are a lot of factors. We are looking at everything and what we can do differently.’
This is not the first time Saka has endured problems with that area of his right leg, with the winger having missed seveal weeks of action back in October.
That hamstring issue kept the 23-year-old sidelined for 39 days – a period which included their disappointing 2-0 defeat by Bournemouth.
Saka’s recurrence of the injury is a huge blow to the Gunners who remain five points off Premier League leaders and clearly missed his presence on Saturday afternoon.
The Gunners are also without Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Raheem Sterling due to injuries.
When asked about Sterling in the build-up to Saturday’s game, Arteta said: ‘I think he’s starting to do some stuff on the pitch so that’s great news.
‘As quickly as possible we want him available. Let’s see how he progresses this week and then see if we can go for the following week.’
The Arsenal boss went on to discuss White and Tomiyasu, saying: ‘Ben is still a few weeks away and Tomi again has done some stuff on the pitch.’
Raheem Sterling (pictured above) and Ben White are also out injured at the moment
He went on to add: ‘But now because it’s been a long-term injury we need to see how quickly Tomi can progress and how he reacts.’
Arteta also spoke about the fact he needs to manage Declan Rice’s minutes given he’s ‘had some niggles in the last few games’.
The Spainaird said: ‘In his case especially, he plays so much football. We have nine games in this period this month and he had some niggles in the last few games.’
Arteta went on to add: ‘Declan had to come off and we have to manage every player and there are no exceptions.’
