Bukayo Saka has had surgery on a hamstring injury and is set to be out until March, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta confirmed on Friday.
The 23-year-old suffered a muscle tear in his right leg during the first half of Saturday’s 5-1 win at Crystal Palace.
“He had the surgery and everything went well,” Arteta told a press conference after Arsenal’s win over Ipswich. “But unfortunately he will be out for a few weeks.”
Trying to clarify the exact time frame, Arteta said: “I said ‘several weeks’, so it’s probably more than two months. I don’t know exactly how much longer it will take. I think it will depend on what happens to the scar tissue.” “It starts to recover in the first week or so, but the mobility is very difficult to tell.”
The Gunners made up for Saka’s absence as Kai Havertz’s close-range goal in the 23rd minute was enough to lift Arteta’s side to second, six points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Arteta has been more optimistic about Raheem Sterling’s prognosis after Arsenal initially feared he would be out for an extended period of time due to a knee problem.
“I think the news is better with Raz,” he said. “We’ll have to see how he develops this week, but we expected the knee injury to take longer than the way it’s developed over the last few days. That’s a good thing because we need him.”
