Arsenal Injury Update: Confirmed Latest on Ben White, Thomas Partey and more | OneFootball

Arsenal Injury Update: Arteta’s Balancing Act Ahead of Crucial European Test

In football, timing is everything. When to press. When to drop deep. When to gamble. And, increasingly for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, when to risk a player carrying a knock in the hope that the gamble doesn’t unravel on the European stage. With a Champions League semi-final hanging tantalisingly in the air, the margins for error are narrowing — as are the squad options.

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What began as a season of carefully structured rotations and prudent squad building has entered the realm of contingency plans and physio-room roulette. Arsenal’s win over Real Madrid in the first leg was as exhilarating as it was bruising. And while that euphoric result may have electrified supporters, it also took a quiet toll behind the scenes — as the club now wrestles with a series of injuries, some fresh, some persistent, all inconvenient.

White Doubt Lingers After Training Setback

Ben White’s name was conspicuously absent from the teamsheet against Brentford, and it wasn’t due to tactical rotation or rest. The defender, increasingly integral in both defensive transitions and build-up play, picked up a knock in training on Friday. Arteta’s tone in the post-match press conference suggested irritation rather than alarm.

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“Ben White couldn’t be in the squad because he felt something again post-training yesterday, so that limits the solutions we have,” said the Arsenal boss.

That “something” remains undefined — a word that does as much to conceal as it does to inform. There is no confirmed timeline, though any absence in midweek would be keenly felt, not least for the structure he brings when Arsenal build from the back.

Potential return date: Unknown

Partey and Jorginho Join Midfield Injury Logjam

As much as Arteta might enjoy tactical fluidity, losing both of your central midfielders in a match is the kind of improvisation no manager craves. Thomas Partey — deployed at right-back due to White’s absence — opened the scoring against Brentford with a thunderbolt, only to shortly collapse to the turf and signal for a substitution.

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“We didn’t expect the issue with Thomas that we had to take him out,” Arteta admitted. “He felt something so we didn’t want to take any risks.” The club awaits a medical assessment, but the implication was clear: precaution has become necessity.

Then came Jorginho. Subdued in the first half, the Italian lasted just past the hour mark before signalling distress. “He said he could not breathe properly, so it could be an issue with one of the ribs,” said Arteta. “It’s strange because if he can’t carry on, that means that that is something significant, I think.”

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It was a double setback in a game that already offered enough headaches.

Potential return dates: Unknown

Timber, Calafiori and the Flicker of Defensive Depth

Jurrien Timber’s long-awaited re-emergence on the pitch — 20 minutes of controlled chaos against Brentford — was both a relief and a risk. He wasn’t ready to start, according to Arteta, but his availability against Real Madrid remains plausible.

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As for Riccardo Calafiori, his journey from Italy’s Nations League casualty to Arsenal hopeful has been predictably slow. The defender suffered a knee injury that looked unpleasant at the time — and remains delicate in its recovery.

“He is in a good place I think,” said Arteta, deploying the sort of non-committal optimism that clubs often use when the prognosis is unclear. There is no official return date, but May has been loosely pencilled in as a possibility.

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Potential return dates:Timber – 16 April vs Real MadridCalafiori – May 2025

Season Over: Gabriel, Tomiyasu and the Havertz Wildcard

Gabriel Magalhães was arguably Arsenal’s most consistent defender until Fulham happened. The Brazilian suffered a hamstring injury that now requires surgery, effectively ruling him out for the remainder of the season.

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“Gabi will undergo a surgical repair procedure… with the aim to be ready for the start of next season,” read the official club statement — clinical in tone, disheartening in implication.

Takehiro Tomiyasu’s season was never quite a season. Six minutes in October, surgery in February, and a heartfelt Instagram post detailing the emotional toll of being sidelined. It was, as he put it, “the toughest period in my career for sure.”

Kai Havertz, meanwhile, exists in a strange liminal space — both ruled out for the season and not quite ruled out. Initial reports pointed to a lengthy recovery from a hamstring operation. Yet Arteta, in a nod to the player’s work ethic, has left the door ajar.

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“Let’s see,” he said. “The mindset of those two [players] is very similar. Great injury history, great work ethic, desperate to get back playing… hopefully we can have him before the end of the season.”

Potential return dates:Gabriel – Summer 2025Tomiyasu – Summer 2025Havertz – Possibly May 2025

Gabriel Jesus Adds to Attacking Uncertainty

Gabriel Jesus, whose Arsenal tenure has been punctuated by elegance and absence in equal measure, is again nowhere near a return. Knee surgery in January has left the Brazilian sidelined indefinitely, with Arteta unwilling to offer even a speculative date.

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It’s another blow to Arsenal’s already-compromised frontline, where much will now rest on the shoulders of Bukayo Saka and a rehabilitating Leandro Trossard. Jesus’ absence is less discussed now, perhaps because it has become so tragically routine.

Potential return date: Late 2025

The Fragile Margin Between Depth and Desperation

Football seasons are rarely won by the starting XI. They’re won in training grounds, in physio rooms, in the treatment cubicles where timelines are redrawn and risk is reassessed. Arsenal’s injury list reads less like a crisis and more like an inevitable reckoning — the price of ambition, rotation, and relentlessness.

As the Champions League looms, so too does the question of availability. White, Partey, and Jorginho are doubts; Timber and Havertz are maybe. What remains is a squad stitched together with pragmatism and hope — not quite the cavalry, but perhaps enough to ride into Madrid and make history.