Arsenal boss Unai Emery has been hit with an injury setback as it’s reported Hector Bellerin will miss the start of next season.
The 24-year-old has been out with a knee injury since January, and he would have been desperate to complete his recovery over the summer, get a pre-season under his belt and come back fresh and fully fit for the new campaign.
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However, according to the Evening Standard, while a return date is not yet known, the expectation is that Bellerin will be ruled out for the first few weeks of the season as he continues his comeback from that serious knee injury.
While it’s a blow for the player himself, it’s far from ideal for Emery too as he’ll now face a selection headache for the opening encounters of the new year with a short-term fix required to fill in while they await Bellerin’s return.
Further, the Spaniard will need to be passed fully fit and match ready too, and so that could delay the comeback further.
It’s not exactly an easy period for the Gunners either, as they face a trip to St. James’ Park to face Newcastle United on the opening weekend of the 2019/2020 season, with Liverpool and Tottenham in the third and fourth games respectively.
In turn, it’s not a great time to be missing their first-choice right-back, but based on the report above, they will now have to find a solution or perhaps address the issue in the transfer market this summer having already allowed veteran Stephan Lichtsteiner to leave when his contract expires at the end of the month.
