Arsenal dealt hammer blow with William Saliba to miss 7 key fixtures after injury update

Arsenal have been dealt a hammerblow after William Saliba was ruled out for three to four weeks, according to sources in France. The central defender was forced off the field just minutes into the Gunners' defeat against Liverpool.

Saliba limped off with an ankle injury before pulling out of international duty with Les Bleus. The 24-year-old could now miss a month of action as Arsenal attempt to get back to winning ways and Champions League competition begins following the international break.

Earlier this week, a statement from the French national team read: "William Saliba, who started for Arsenal against Liverpool on Sunday, was forced off in the fifth minute. He will not be able to honour his call-up for the first training camp of the season. He is suffering from a sprained left ankle. After a discussion with Franck Le Gall, the French team doctor, Didier Deschamps confirmed the unavailability of William Saliba. The national coach has decided to call up Benjamin Pavard as a reinforcement."

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Saliba is set to miss matches against Nottingham Forest, Athletic Bilbao, Manchester City and a Carabao Cup game against Port Vale. If the Arsenal star suffers the worse end of the prognosis, he will also be absent for matches against Newcastle and Olympiacos and West Ham United.

Summer signing Cristhian Mosquera, 21, came from the bench to replace Saliba against Liverpool. The Spaniard was signed from Valencia for just £13million.

Mikel Arteta added further defensive reinforcement on transfer deadline day in the form of Piero Hincapie from Bayer Leverkusen. The 23-year-old arrives on loan with the north London team able to make the move permanent next summer.

Arteta was relieved to have Mosquera at his disposal after Saliba suffered his injury in the warm up for the match at Anfield. Saliba initially believed he would be fine for the match.

"He came in and he said he believed that he could carry on and play but straightaway in the first two actions I could see that he couldn't cope and we had to get him out, unfortunately," Arteta explained.

"But thank God we have Mosquera, which we put in for the first time in the Premier League, his debut[sic: Mosquera also came off the bench vs Leeds], not expecting it at Anfield and I think he was really, really good."

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