Arsenal have reportedly suffered another setback on the injury front as Kieran Tierney is said to be facing a lengthy spell out of action too.
As confirmed by the club on their official site, Calum Chambers has now been ruled out for between six and nine months as he begins his recovery after sustaining a ruptured ACL in his left knee.
SEE MORE: Arsenal’s Aubameyang hits back at Man United fans after ‘Phil Jones’ pocket’ claim after win
That’s a major blow in itself for the Gunners who would have hoped that it wasn’t as serious as initially feared, but they’ll now have to wait until next season to see the 24-year-old back in action as they hope that he can avoid complications on his road to recovery.
However, that wasn’t the only huge setback confirmed by the club, as the same medical bulletin above has also revealed that Tierney underwent surgery on his dislocated shoulder and will now be sidelined for three months with a return in March touted.
The 22-year-old summer signing has been blighted by injuries since his arrival at the Emirates, which in turn has restricted him to just 11 appearances so far this season.
In turn, it will be a real disappointment for all concerned that he now faces another few months out of the squad, but the target will no doubt be to return for the latter stages of the campaign and help Arsenal reach their objectives.
That said, it’s a crushing blow for Arteta to lose both defensive players for such a long time, especially given how porous they’ve been at the back so far this season which has been one of their main issues.
Arsenal have conceded 30 goals in 21 Premier League games, giving them the joint-worst defensive record of the top 10 sides in the standings.
That is seemingly a major reason as to why they are continuing to languish down in 10th place, but there have been positive signs since Arteta took charge, and so he’ll hope that he has enough in the squad or will perhaps add more quality in January to cope with the injury blows.