Arsenal may have another injury concern to worry about as Leandro Trossard went off with a knock in Belgium’s game last night.
Trossard had to be subbed off due to an injury problem, according to Fabrizio Romano in the post on X below, though it’s not yet clear how serious this might have been, or if it was more of a precaution.
60 G/A man could be on his way to Arsenal!
Still, this is not the kind of news Arsenal fans wanted to see after so many problems like this so far this season, with Martin Odegaard missing a lot of games, while others like Declan Rice, Ben White, Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori have also had problems at various points…
??? Leandro Trossard has been subbed off through injury with Belgium tonight. pic.twitter.com/758egCt95P
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) November 17, 2024
Trossard has featured a lot for Arsenal this season, so is not someone Mikel Arteta will want to be without for long, though some Gunners fans might be wondering if this particular piece of news could end up being a bit of a blessing in disguise.
Could Leandro Trossard injury pave the way for more minutes for Ethan Nwaneri?
Trossard has mostly been a pretty reliable performer for Arsenal, but it’s also true that he’s looked a bit less effective at times this season, partly due to often being asked to fill in in Odegaard’s role while he’s been out injured.
Arteta has arguably been a little overly cautious in not using wonderkid Ethan Nwaneri in Odegaard’s place instead, so perhaps an injury to Trossard will give the AFC teenager his chance.
Of course, Odegaard is back now, so that complicates things further for Nwaneri, but in general if there’s a shortage of senior players available, that could end up opening the door for him at some point.
The 17-year-old has shown himself to be an outstanding talent when he has got on the pitch, and there’ll likely be many Arsenal fans thinking Arteta should trust him a bit more, rather than taking the more cautious option of using a more experienced player like Trossard out of position.
Trossard has been one of Arsenal’s worst players the past few games and I wouldn’t be surprised if he was carrying a secret injury all this time. So perhaps a rest will do him good, and as you say, give Nwaneri a starting run in the side.