Arsenal handed fresh injury blow days after clear Mikel Arteta verdict

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Arsenal starlet Jaden Dixon has handed the Gunners a fresh injury blow after being substituted in a Premier League 2 clash

Arsenal have been handed a fresh injury blow after Jaden Dixon was helped off the pitch during an Under-21s match. Dixon was part of the young Gunners team that faced Leicester City in Premier League 2 on Friday night, just days after making his debut for the first team.

Mikel Arteta’s side are currently preparing to face Everton in the Premier League on Saturday evening, with the Arsenal boss handing Dixon a debut in the win over Mansfield Town in the FA Cup last weekend.

Dixon was named in the Arsenal Under-21 starting line-up to face Leicester on Friday evening, but was substituted in first-half stoppage time as the Gunners went on to suffer a 5-1 defeat.

The teenager defender was helped off the pitch by Arsenal’s medical staff, and it remains to be seen how long he will spend on the sidelines.

Arsenal only signed Dixon from Stoke City during the January transfer window, having agreed a fee close to £500,000 for the 18-year-old centre-back.

Just a month after moving back to north London, having previously been on the books at Tottenham Hotspur before his move to Stoke in 2023, Dixon made his debut as a substitute in Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Mansfield in the fifth round of the FA Cup last weekend.

That performance has earned praise from Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, who explained why the cameo for Dixon benefitted the whole squad, as well as the young defender.

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“I was really pleased for Jaden Dixon to make his debut too, another young player coming through to get his chance like we’ve seen a lot already this season,” Odegaard said in his pre-match programme notes ahead of the clash against Everton.

“It shows what we are as a club, and the manager trusts young players here, and that’s always good to see.

“It gives everyone a lift – all of us in the first team squad too – when we see young players come through to get game time, because it means so much to everyone and it’s always a special moment when someone can make their Arsenal debut.”

Arteta was also full of praise for Dixon after the defender’s cameo performance for Arsenal on debut against Mansfield last week.

“He's been doing really well,” Arteta told Arsenal’s official club media.

“He's been training with us lately, and with the absences that we had in the backline, he was an option, and he was ready to perform.”