Further to the injury sustained during the match against Chelsea on Sunday, we can confirm that Calum ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament of his left knee. Calum has had successful surgery in London on Thursday morning. The rehabilitation process is expected to take between six to nine months. Everyone at the club will be supporting Calum to ensure he is back on the pitch as soon as possible.
This news prompted Arteta to admit that cover will be needed but he tempered that by saying “the reality at the moment is that we’re not going to be able to do much.” This is basically an admission that there will not be big funds available for transfers this month…
The Boss said on Arsenal.com: “That we’re going to try to be in the market to see options that can strengthen the team. That’s for sure and that’s our obligation, and we’re going to be working on that. My obligation is to give my opinion on the things we can improve. Obviously we have some bad injuries, like Calum a few days ago.
“That’s obviously going to change our plans at the back, but the reality at the moment is that we’re not going to be able to do much. I’m more concerned at the moment about getting people back from injuries than I am the signings. I want to improve the players I have here, get everybody on board and understanding what we’re trying to do. If something extra comes up and we think it’s the right opportunity to improve what we have, let’s do it.”
So that seems to be preparing Arsenal fans for a quiet January, and this fact has also been echoed by SkySports in their transfer roundup this morning. They wrote: “Sky Sports News understands incomings at Arsenal are unlikely at this stage after the club committed £150m to new players in the summer and centre-back William Saliba to return from his St Etienne loan in the summer.”
So we can expect one cheap centre-back to come in, but not much else….