Ben White ruled out for months after undergoing knee surgery, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta confirms in conference.
Ben White has been ruled out for “months” after having knee surgery this international break.
The manager of the Gunners claims that White, 27, has been carrying a lot of knocks and that an operation was decided upon during the international break.
“It has been different kinds of struggles. It has never been the same thing, but we had to make a decision. He has not improved over the last few weeks, unfortunately,” said Arteta, whose side host Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
“We know that Ben is going to push every boundary, but it got to the point where we have to protect the player and we decided to do the surgery.
“He agreed with that and it is going to keep him out for a few months.”
Asked for a specific time frame, Arteta added: “We have to see how he reacts post-surgery. I don’t expect it to be half a year, but I cannot tell you exactly.”
Following their recovery from knocks sustained during the draw at Chelsea, which resulted in their removal from the England squad, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka should be available for Arsenal.
Takehiro Tomiyasu is still out for Saturday’s match, but defender Riccardo Calafiori is also in the running after missing a month due to a knee injury.