Mikel Arteta given double Arsenal fitness boost after worst-case Gabriel injury scenario emerges

Leandro Trossard and Mikel Merino were both in action on Tuesday evening as Arsenal's injury worries mount ahead of the north London derby against Tottenham this weekend

Mikel Arteta will be desperate to see his remaining Arsenal stars still out on international duty return to north London unscathed after Gabriel Magalhaes picked up a thigh injury during a friendly for Brazil. The Gunners centre-back limped off 64 minutes into their 2-0 victory over Senegal last Saturday, with concerns swiftly arising over the severity of his issue.

Clips from Emirates Stadium showed Gabriel pulling up while sprinting with an official update from the national team and comments by head coach Carlo Ancelotti not helping ease those worries in the following days.

“Bad? I don’t know, he had a problem on his adductor, the medical staff have to check tomorrow,” Ancelotti said in a press conference. “We are really sorry for this, really disappointed, when players have an injury I hope they can recover well and soon.”

A statement from Brazil the following day read: "Arsenal player Gabriel Magalhaes was re-evaluated this Sunday (16) and underwent imaging tests that revealed a muscle injury in his right thigh.

"Therefore, the player will not travel with the team to the match against Tunisia in Lille. No other player will be called up to replace him." Brazil have since drawn that clash 1-1 with the extent of Gabriel's injury emerging hours before.

According to BBC Sport, early fears indicate the 27-year-old will miss a minimum of four weeks. It has been further stated that his absence could stretch to January.

Having signed Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapie this past summer, Arteta has more than adequate replacements available for the long term.

Losing Gabriel is a major blow, though, with his ability in both boxes highlighted by his three direct goal contributions and Arsenal's staggering run of eight consecutive clean sheets.

Hincapie coming into the starting XI against Tottenham this Sunday seems unlikely, with the defender having played 90 minutes for Ecuador in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Considering the travel required and thus recovery needed, he may only be fit enough for a place on the bench.

Having seen Gabriel suffer a muscular problem, Arteta will be hopeful no more fresh injury blows emerge, especially with it unclear if Gabriel Martinelli, Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke and Martin Odegaard can return this weekend. Kai Havertz has seemingly already been ruled out, with it revealed he suffered a setback in his recovery from a knee issue.

On Tuesday evening, both Mikel Merino and Leandro Trossard were due to be in action for Spain and Belgium, respectively. The latter was named on the substitutes bench for their World Cup qualifier against Liechtenstein but came on for the final 30 minutes to see out a dominant 7-1 victory.

Merino, meanwhile, started in Spain's midfield for a thrilling 2-2 draw with Turkiye. An equaliser just before half-time by Deniz Gul to cancel out Dani Olmo's early opener resulted in Luis de la Fuente making an attacking change with Ferran Torres introduced for Merino at the interval.

As a result of that decision, his international break is now over with no injury appearing to be present. The same could be said for Trossard, with both players likely to start at home to Spurs, given the injuries to Gyokeres, Havertz, Madueke and Martinelli.

There were also concerns over Jurrien Timber after he was on the end of a nasty challenge during the Netherlands' win over Lithuania. Thankfully for Arteta, he was able to carry on after receiving treatment before coming off just after the hour mark.