Ian Wright highlights Arsenal’s lack of depth as reason for star’s injury

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Ian Wright has admitted that Bukayo Saka’s recent injury is a huge blow for England and Arsenal.

The young winger picked up an injury during the first half of the Gunners’ game against Nottingham Forest last weekend and is now a doubt for Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad.

Speaking about the young Englishman’s untimely injury and if it could impact his chances of featuring in this month’s Qatar World Cup, manager Mikel Arteta, as quoted by the club’s official website, said: “Hopefully not, It was a bad kick right from the beginning he was limping, but I don’t see any further than that, let’s see how it is in the next couple of days.”

While the country and Arsenal keep everything crossed that Saka can make a speedy recovery, Wright has highlighted the Gunners’ lack of quality in depth as the reason the 21-year-old may have been overplayed.

“It was sad to see, you look at Arsenal and people are already saying he should have been rested by now,’ Wright said on The Kelly & Wrighty Show, as quoted by Metro.

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“It was an awkward fall he had [against Nottingham Forest], he opened his knee up, the sign is always when someone is coming off how angry they are, how despondent they are, we saw with Varane how he was, Saka came off with a little bit more of an anger, he was really disappointed, he looked really vexed about it.

Bukayo Saka (centre) coming off injured against Nottingham Forest.

“I think if Emile Smith Rowe was fit, he [Saka] would’ve got more of a rest. We just haven’t got the depth, we still haven’t put teams away enough in the Europa League to be able to rest, we have to play him, whereas you probably would’ve thought he’d get rested against Zurich.

“He’s so dangerous now. He’s getting fouled a lot, he’s getting a lot bodies around him, you always worry about him.

“It is a worry because we’re not a million miles away from the World Cup, and more importantly he’s in good form which is what Arsenal need at the moment.”

Although England’s World Cup campaign is set to kick off in just over two weeks’ time, Arsenal still have three important fixtures to play, including a London derby against rivals Chelsea on Sunday.

Not only will Saka not be in line to feature against Graham Potter’s Blues but it remains unlikely Gunners’ fans will see him in action again before the break and that should serve as a big reminder to the club’s owners that financial reinforcement may be needed in January.

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