Arsenal injury update: Ezri Konsa, William Saliba, Bukayo Saka latest return dates


Arsenal headed into the international break with a fresh injury concern over Declan Rice, after the midfielder was substituted in the win over Hull.
Those fears have since been allayed with Rice fit enough to join up with the England squad and he is expected to be in action against Croatia on Thursday night.
However, Ezri Konsa will play no part at Wembley Stadium, and there is some concerning news regarding the central defender - who has a fit-again William Saiba breathing down his neck for a starting place.
With that in mind, here is the latest Arsenal injury news
Konsa has been managing his fitness after taking a hit to his knee during Arsenal’s 2-1 win away to Slavia Prague.
The defender was able to complete the full 90 minutes at home to Hull three days later, but Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that he will miss England’s Nations League clash at home to Croatia through injury.
“It’s my understanding at the moment that they will be both available but we will not take the risk. For tomorrow, both out for tomorrow,” Tuchel said in his pre-match press conference.
“You saw it, they were not in training. They follow their own programme, and the understanding and the hope and the belief, I would say, is that they’re both in individual training on Friday, team training on Saturday and match ready on Sunday.”
Should Konsa feature for England against Spain on Sunday, then he should be OK for Arsenal’s trip to St James’ Park to face Newcastle in their first game after the international break.
Potential return date:
It is just a matter of time before William Saliba is able to challenge Konsa and Gabriel for a place in the Arsenal defence after a delayed start to the season due to a long-term back injury that he exacerbated while on duty for France at the World Cup.
Saliba was able to avoid surgery, resumed full training before the Slavia Prague game and then travelled with the squad to the Czech Republic.
While Saliba was an unused substitute in Prague and was then left out completely against Hull, he was in action for the U21s the following day, playing 45 minutes of a 5-2 win over Aston Villa.
After being replaced at half-time, Arsenal’s U21s head coach David Horseman confirmed that was always the intention.
“He’s fine, by the way, it was all pre-planned, so nobody needs to panic,” Horseman said.
Saliba has not been selected in the France squad by Zinedine Zidane for the Nations League double-header against Italy and Turkey, giving him for time to work on his fitness during the international break.
Potential return date:
Bukayo Saka has now missed five Arsenal games in a row with a quad injury sustained after just 10 minutes against Bayern Munich last month.
He will also be sidelined for England’s Nations League double-header against Croatia and Spain during the international break.
Amid fears Saka could be out for action for up to eight weeks, Arteta confirmed that the winger’s recovery was going well ahead of the Hull fixture, but it will still be some weeks until he can make a full comeback.
”The way it happened, it wasn't a really aggressive action,” Arteta said before the 1-0 win over Hull.
“So that gives you some hope as well that the tissue will repair in a more efficient and faster way as well and he has some very good symptoms right now. So we have to wait and see."
Potential return date:
