Bukayo Saka Faces Up to Eight Weeks Out with Injury
Arsenal have been hit with the news they dreaded: Bukayo Saka could be facing up to eight weeks on the sidelines with a quadriceps injury at the sharp end of their season.
The 25-year-old forward will undergo an MRI scan on Friday afternoon after limping out of Wednesday’s 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich in the Champions League at the Allianz Arena. He left the pitch clearly in discomfort, and the early medical bulletins from the club have done little to ease the anxiety.
Fluid around the affected muscle has complicated an immediate diagnosis, but initial examinations have led Arsenal’s medical staff to estimate a minimum absence of six weeks, with the realistic prospect of that stretching to two months. For a player who has become the heartbeat of this Arsenal side, the timing could hardly be worse.
If those fears are confirmed, Saka will miss a run of crucial fixtures in the Premier League as Arsenal chase down Manchester City, as well as England’s upcoming Uefa Nations League games against Croatia and Spain. What began as a worrying moment in Munich is threatening to reshape both club and country’s plans for the spring.
Mikel Arteta cut a concerned figure as he addressed the situation.
“We need a few more scans and opinions from the specialists,” the Arsenal head coach said. “When a player has to walk off the pitch, he is struggling to walk without any pain, and is restricted to movement; it is not a good sign. Let’s be a little bit patient so we can give a definitive assessment.
“He’s got another MRI as there was quite a lot of fluid in the area so it was quite difficult to understand the extent of the injury. We will know more tomorrow.”
What is already certain is that Saka will play no part in Saturday’s home Premier League match against Everton, where second-placed Arsenal will try to cut the three-point gap to leaders Manchester City. The Emirates has grown used to seeing its academy jewel drag the team through tense afternoons; now Arteta must find another way.
This is not an isolated setback. Saka’s body has been sending warning signals for months.
An Achilles problem suffered in March forced Arsenal and England to carefully manage his minutes at the end of last season and during the World Cup. He missed the March international break and sat out seven games for Arsenal, only returning in time to help them finally reclaim the Premier League title after a 22-year wait.
Even when he has played, he has not always been at full tilt. Saka started the Champions League final defeat by Paris St-Germain but was withdrawn after 54 minutes, and he began only three of England’s eight matches at the World Cup. When he did start, he still found a way to leave his mark, hitting a hat-trick in the chaotic 6-4 third-place win over France.
The workload has been relentless, and his medical file reflects it. In December 2024 he underwent surgery on a hamstring injury that ruled him out for 101 days of the 2024-25 campaign. Now comes another muscular issue, another period of enforced rest at a time when Arsenal would rather lean on him than learn to cope without him.
For a player who has carried so much responsibility so young, the question is no longer just how quickly he returns, but how long Arsenal and England can keep asking him to go to the well.
