Bukayo Saka breaks Arsenal injury silence with clear six-word message

Arsenal star Bukayo Saka has taken to social media for the first time since suffering his hamstring injury last month. The Gunners winger was forced off early into the second half of their Premier League win over Leeds United - after a run inside ended with him clutching the back of his leg.

Martin Odegaard also went off with an issue in that game but the bigger concern surrounded Saka especially after he missed several months because of a similar issue last season.

"Bukayo, while he was running with the ball, carrying the ball, wrestling with the defender, he felt something in his hamstring," Mikel Arteta admitted in his-post match press conference. "So let's see. I think it's the other one. It's not the same one as the previous injury.

"He felt something while he was sprinting. That's never a good sign."

Ahead of the Liverpool clash on Sunday when asked about Saka, the Arsenal head coach said: "Yeah, we're getting better, but it will be out for a few weeks, unfortunately."

Games against Nottingham Forest and Athletic Club may come too soon for Saka but there's certainly hope he can be available for the visit of Manchester City in a fortnight.

If he is able to return for that game on Sunday, September 21, a start seems unlikely if he is not fully fit especially as Noni Madueke, Ethan Nwaneri and Max Dowman are all options that can cover with the full compliment of Arteta's squad expected to be utilised going forward.

That is because Kai Havertz, Christian Norgaard, Ben White and now William Saliba have all been struck by injury. The latter managed just a few minutes against Liverpool - after going over on his ankle in the warm-up at Anfield.

Unsurprisingly, he had to pull out of France's next two World Cup qualifiers with Saka not even named in Thomas Tuchel's Three Lions squad. He will have spent the last five days alongside several others at London Colney, which at least allowed him to celebrate his 24th birthday surrounded by loved ones.

Posting to his Instagram story for the first time since his injury, Saka uploaded a photo of himself holding his dog in front of balloons and several birthday banners.

He captioned the story: "Thank you for all your messages [white heart emoji]."

As Saka is sat down, it is difficult to determine if he is wearing any support or understand how much mobility he currently has. With it seemingly just a minor strain or a pull, it is likely he will be back on the grass relatively soon, even though caution will likely be taken to integrate him back into the group.

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