Mikel Arteta confirms Arsenal star faces 'weeks' out after unexpected injury

Mikel Arteta has said that Cristhian Mosquera faces 'weeks' on the side-lines as Arsenal suffer yet another injury blow.

The centre-half appeared to jar his leg during the Gunners' midweek clash with Brentford while jumping with Kevin Schade in an aerial duel. As a result, Mosquera seemingly felt pain in his ankle, but was later spotted on the ground signalling discomfort around his knee while receiving treatment.

While Arteta made it clear on Wednesday evening that he didn't know the severity of Mosquera's issue, it was enough to keep him side-lined for Arsenal's match with Aston Villa on Saturday. And when asked by reporters about the Spaniard's injury during his post-match press conference, the head coach told reporters: "He's going to be out for weeks.

"Unfortunately, it's much more than what we expected, the way he was feeling. So, he's going to be out for weeks."

It comes as a major blow given Arsenal are already relatively stretched at the back. William Saliba and Gabriel both missed Saturday's clash with Villa as a result of their own respective injuries, forcing a deployment of Piero Hincapie and Jurrien Timber in the heart of defence, flanked by Riccardo Calafiori and Ben White.

Saliba suffered a knock in the final training session ahead of Arsenal's 1-1 clash with Chelsea last month, and while Arteta said earlier this week that the Frenchman was "a matter of days" away from returning, he also missed the trip to Villa Park.

Elsewhere, Gabriel isn't expected to return to the squad until later this month, with the Brazilian picking up an adductor injury on international duty with Brazil in November. During the week, Arteta said of the star: "Big Gabi is doing very well as well, but that's weeks as well."

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