Experienced Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky is set to miss the start of the 2015-16 Barclays Premier League season through injury, Mail Sport reports.
The Czech Republic is one of a few first-team players that has not travelled on the club’s pre-season tour of Singapore and his absence was explained by Gunners manager Arsene Wenger as the squad arrived in Southeast Asia on Monday afternoon:
“Rosicky came back with a knee problem from the international Czech game against Iceland. He will be longer; four to five weeks,” the Gunners boss revealed.
Rosicky, who renewed his contract with the Gunners in May, became the club’s second longest serving player at the start of the month following the departure of Abou Diaby.
The attacking midfielder will turn 35 in the Autumn and is likely to be very disappointed with this setback as it denies him the chance to impress Wenger and stake a claim for a regular first-team spot ahead of the new campaign.
Last season he started just five league games, with the last coming in March against Queens Park Rangers and with the likes of Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla ahead of him in the pecking order at the Emirates Stadium, it could be a little while longer before Rosicky starts another league game.
He did weigh in with a couple of crucial goals last year, with his effort in the 2-0 win over Everton the most notable of his three strikes as it kept the Gunners on course for a top-three finish.
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