{"id":1827,"date":"2026-04-11T13:03:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T13:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/?p=1827"},"modified":"2026-04-11T13:03:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T13:03:11","slug":"arsenal-star-returns-from-injury-as-mikel-arteta-keeps-cards-close-to-his-chest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/?p=1827","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal star returns from injury as Mikel Arteta keeps cards close to his chest"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<h2 class=\"LeadText_lead-text__wd_PA __className_b6bb55\" data-testid=\"leadtext\">Jurrien Timber, Bukayo Saka, Riccardo Calafiori, Piero Hincapie and Martin Odegaard are all injury doubts for Arsenal ahead of their Premier League game against Bournemouth<\/h2>\n<div class=\"Byline_byline-container__K_Owl\" data-testid=\"byline\"><span class=\"Byline_byline-content-wrapper__Imque\" data-testid=\"byline-content\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"Byline_author-badge-date-wrapper__Q7jj1\">\n<p><span class=\"\" data-testid=\"byline-publishedDate\">14:23, 10 Apr 2026<\/span><span class=\"ArticleTimestamp_updated-date__7qD4Q ArticleTimestamp_updated-date-with-published__iFKpF\" data-testid=\"byline-updatedDate\">Updated 14:40, 10 Apr 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/div>\n<p><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX ImageEmbed_image-lead__Ti3qQ\" data-testid=\"leadimage\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36810450\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mikel Arteta speaking in a press conference\" loading=\"eager\" sizes=\"(max-width: 508px) 508px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36810450.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/0_arteta-press-set-piecesJPG.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36810450.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s508\/0_arteta-press-set-piecesJPG.jpg 508w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36810450.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615\/0_arteta-press-set-piecesJPG.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36810450.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/0_arteta-press-set-piecesJPG.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Mikel Arteta gave the latest in his pre-match press conference\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Mikel Arteta gave the latest in his pre-match press conference<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Eberechi Eze is available for Arsenal&#8217;s Premier League game against Bournemouth on Saturday, but refused to give the latest on several other stars.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Eze returned to training on Thursday following a calf injury and is now ready to return to the squad. It had been speculated that the midfielder could be out for six weeks, but Arteta confirmed in his pre-match press conference that he was fit again.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;He is available,&#8221; he said. &#8220;My first conversation with him after felt that niggle he wanted to be available the next week. That was not possible. The recovery, the way he has shown to get back, the way he has pushed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Arteta also praised the mentality Eze has showed during his time on the sidelines. The 27-year-old has been missing since the 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen on March 17 and has pushed himself hard to get back fit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">FOLLOW OUR ARSENAL FB PAGE!<\/strong><a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mirrorfootballarsenal#\" rel=\"nofollow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">  Latest Gunners news and more on our dedicated Facebook page<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span data-testid=\"readmore\" class=\"ReadMore_readmore-prefix__xS44r __className_020eaf\">READ MORE<!-- -->: <span class=\"ReadMore_readmore-link__eF9pN\">Mikel Arteta warned about Arsenal failure as Jamie Carragher issues Premier League ultimatum<\/span><\/span><span data-testid=\"readmore\" class=\"ReadMore_readmore-prefix__xS44r __className_020eaf\">READ MORE<!-- -->: <span class=\"ReadMore_readmore-link__eF9pN\">Arsenal eye summer transfer swoop for Spain star as club chief confirms offer<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;One of them I didn&#8217;t know that he was determined, so obsessed and willing to push his body, in a really powerful way,&#8221; Arteta said. &#8220;When you take away the opportunity to play, you see the reaction. The energy that he brings inside the team.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Jurrien Timber, Bukayo Saka, Riccardo Calafiori, Piero Hincapie and Martin Odegaard were all absent from Thursday&#8217;s training session, sparking doubt around their availability to face Bournemouth in Saturday&#8217;s 12.30pm kick-off in north London.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Arteta decided to keep his cards close to his chest when asked about injuries. &#8220;Yeah there have been changes there since yesterday,&#8221; he said cryptically.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-36989741\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36989741\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Eberechi Eze of Arsenal FC gestures during the UEFA Champions League 2025\/26 Round of 16 Second Leg match between Arsenal FC and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Arsenal Stadium on March 17, 2026 in London, United Kingdom\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 458px) 458px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36989741.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_GettyImages-2266782024.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36989741.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s458b\/0_GettyImages-2266782024.jpg 458w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36989741.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/0_GettyImages-2266782024.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36989741.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_GettyImages-2266782024.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Eberechi Eze is ready to return\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Eberechi Eze is ready to return<cite aria-label=\"Image: 2026 DeFodi Images\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: 2026 DeFodi Images)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Pressed further, he only offered: &#8220;I don&#8217;t know. Some of them.&#8221; And asked if Hincapie was fit, he said: &#8220;There will be changes tomorrow.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Odegaard was substituted in the 1-0 win over Sporting on Tuesday night &#8211; a match that was missed entirely by Timber, Saka and Hincapie.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Arsenal are also without midfielder Mikel Merino, who suffered a bone stress fracture in his foot in January which required surgery. &#8220;Well he&#8217;s another one who is going to push every boundary,&#8221; Arteta said when asked about the Spain international, who is desperate to feature for his country in this summer&#8217;s World Cup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;He&#8217;s doing a lot of exercises already. He reacted well to the surgery and he has no pain. 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Any online orders will be dispatched from Wednesday <\/strong><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">March 25 <\/strong><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">and postage and packaging applies.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jurrien Timber, Bukayo Saka, Riccardo Calafiori, Piero Hincapie and Martin Odegaard are all injury doubts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}