Arsenal defender Cristhian Mosquera was present at Saturday’s match against Wolverhampton Wanderers, but the player was photographed wearing a protective boot.
Photo via @DailyAFC on Twitter
Following his injury against Brentford earlier this month, Cristhian Mosquera returned to the Emirates Stadium for Arsenal’s match against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
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But the 21-year-old could be seen wearing a protective boot as he walked around the pitch, as he worked to recover from that recent ankle setback.
Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Sami Mokbel reported for the BBC on December 5 that Arsenal fear Mosquera will miss at least six weeks with his ankle injury, and possibly up to eight.
The player suffered the injury after landing poorly and Mikel Arteta quickly confirmed in a subsequent press conference that the problem was serious.
“He will be out for weeks,” Arteta admitted. “Unfortunately, it’s a lot more than we expected, the way he was feeling. So he’ll be out for weeks.”
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
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The date of Mokbel’s report suggests the expectation is that Mosquera could be sidelined until January 30, which would mean missing games against Everton, Crystal Palace, Brighton, Villa, Bournemouth, Liverpool, Portsmouth, Nottingham Forest, Inter Milan, Manchester United and Kairat Almaty.
There could also be a League Cup semi-final there, depending on how Palace’s quarter-finals go.
The Gunners face Leeds United on January 31, so it will be the first game where we can be fairly confident that the centre-back will be back to fitness.
It is far from the ideal time for Mosquera to be out, both because William Saliba was also recently injured and because Ben White is already out. Mosquera was meant to provide cover at full-back and right-back, so his absence is problematic in both positions.
It will be difficult to get through the next month and a half without the defender, and Arsenal fans will wish him a speedy recovery.