German tore his hamstring against Turks on Tuesday.
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Arsenal have been dealt another major injury blow after head coach Arsene Wenger revealed that front man Lukas Podolski will now be out of action for much longer than first feared, with the German facing a ten-week layoff after damaging his hamstring against Fenerbahce this week, says the Daily Mail.
The experienced striker has been in great form at the start of the season, scoring a brace in the north London’s club’s first victory in the Premier League at Fulham on Saturday afternoon.
However, the 28-year-old then suffered a hamstring injury in the second half of the Gunners’ crucial second-leg tie with Fenerbahce in the play-off round of the Uefa Champions League at the Emirates on Tuesday evening, taking the gloss off the team’s eventual 2-0 win on the night, and 5-0 aggregate victory over the Turkish giants.
Initially, though, it had been thought that the Germany international would just be out of action for between three and four weeks after tweaking his hamstring, only for tests to have subsequently revealed that the problem is actually much worse than first thought.
And with it now known that Podolski has in fact torn his hamstring, the forward could be missing for as much as the next ten weeks, meaning Arsenal may be without the player until November.
“It is bad news about Lukas Podolski as he will be out for eight to 10 weeks,” said Wenger.
“His hamstring is much more damaged than we thought at the start. It is very disappointing and we have paid a very heavy price for that win [over Fenerbahce]. We have to be patient now.”