Mikel Arteta has admitted that Skhodran Mustafi is a doubt for the FA Cup final against Chelsea, following his horrific tackle by Raheem Sterling.
The defender has enjoyed an amazing resurgence under the new coach, who joined the club in December, with the German having come in for heavy scrutiny from fans after a number of mistakes prior to Arteta’s arrival.
Since the break, Mustafi hasn’t only returned to being a first-team member, but has been an integral part of our defence, and had started every match since the resumption of football up until Raheem Sterling maliciously took him out in the Man City match-up.
The City winger stamped on Mustafi’s ankle, before directing his downward weight onto the hamstring of the defender, and the player hasn’t been able to feature since, and as yet we are unaware of when he will be ready to return.
The manager has now confirmed that he is unlikely to feature against Chelsea on August 1.
‘The rest is true that Musti is injured and we need to assess a little bit how long he is out,’ Arteta told Arsenal.
“I doubt it [he’ll be fit for the final]. I don’t know. We have to see how he evolves in the next few days. At the moment, I doubt it.’
Arsenal may well have to choose to field a back three out of our remaining options of Kieran Tierney, David Luiz, Rob Holding, Sead Kolasinac, and Sokratis, while the latter duo will likely be benched.
Would Mustafi be a huge loss in our bid to win the FA Cup?
Patrick
