Mikel Arteta has delivered an injury update on a host of players, including Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber and Martin Odegaard, ahead of our match against Bournemouth.
The trio, along with Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie, did not feature in our opening training session on Thursday.
When asked if any of the players would be available to face Bournemouth, Mikel said: “There have been changes since yesterday, yes.”
Read more
FPL Focus: Gunners return, and plan those chips!
One player that did feature was Ebere Eze, who last played for us in the 2-0 win against Bayer Leverkusen last month.
The boss confirmed our number 10 is available to face the Cherries this weekend and revealed the England international has been pushing to return as soon as possible.
He said: “He is available. He has (been ahead of schedule), my first conversation with him after he felt a niggle, he wanted to be available the next week, we knew that was impossible.
“But the recovery, the will that he’s shown from day one to get back as quick as possible, how he’s pushed the medical staff and himself to be there tomorrow, it’s just great to watch.”
Another player working on his recovery is Mikel Merino, who last featured in our 3-2 defeat against Manchester United back in January.
When asked about his recovery, the boss said: “He’s another one that is going to push every boundary.
“He’s out of his boot now. He’s doing quite a lot of exercises already. He’s reacted really well to the surgery. He’s got no pain.
“It’s more for the medical staff to go a bit further on that. But I’m sure there is a chance to make that period shorter. If there is a person who can do it, I’m sure that’s going to be Mikel again.”
Read more
How to watch Arsenal v Bournemouth live on TV
Copyright 2026 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
