1 month ago
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Arsenal's Bukayo Saka has shared a photo from his hospital bed after undergoing surgery on a hamstring injury.
Saka, 23, is set for a spell on the sidelines and boss Mikel Arteta anticipates it could be as long as two months.
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Sharing a post on Instagram, Saka wrote: "The majority see obstacles, but few see the opportunities.
"Recovery has begun and I’m coming back stronger! Thank you all for your messages."
The England winger went down in the first half of the Premier League match against Crystal Palace clutching his hamstring and the injury was later confirmed.
After leaving Selhurst Park on crutches, fans were concerned about their star man, who has scored nine times and assisted 13 in 24 games across all competitions this season.
Arsenal went onto beat Crystal Palace 5-1 through goals from Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli and Declan Rice.
The north London side also secured a 1-0 victory over Ipswich Town at home in their first game without Saka in the squad.
Providing an update on Saka, Arteta said: "I would prefer to leave that to the doctor himself. But he had a procedure. Everything went well.
"But, unfortunately he will be out for many, many weeks.
"I think it will be more than two months. I don't know exactly how much longer, I think it will depend, you know, how the scar tissue starts to heal the first week or so. The mobility of that.
"Let's see. It's very difficult to say."
The obvious replacement for Saka would be Chelsea loanee Raheem Sterling - who is also recovering from a knee injury himself.
Luckily for Arsenal, the side expect Sterling to be available again soon, with a welcome fitness boost for the 30-year-old.
Arteta added: "The news with Raz, I think it's better. We have to see this week how he evolves.
"But we expect it, the knee injury to probably take longer than actually the way the knee is evolving in the last few days.
"So, hopefully that's good because we need him."
Gabriel Martinelli played on the right in Friday's win over Ipswich.
Arteta said: "I think the replacement of B is going to be the team, you know, and that unit in particular and having minutes together and asking different things and doing that.
"There was moments that it flowed really well [against Ipswich]. There were moments that we can still have some work to do there and improve it and adapt to the qualities of the individuals. And I'm certain that we're going to do that."
Arsenal are next in action when they play London rivals Brentford away on New Year's Day.
The Gunners are second in the table, currently six points behind Liverpool, who have a game in hand.
