Arteta: White will be out for months

Head coach Arsenal Mikel Arteta said that his team’s defender Ben White It will take a long time to recover after the surgery.

“Ben was out for a few months. They are different types of pain, it has never been the same, but unfortunately in the last few weeks we have had to make a decision. We know that Ben will overcome all limits, but there came a time when we had to protect the player and we decided to perform surgery. He agreed to this and it is obvious that he will be out of the game for several months.”

“We’ll have to see how he reacts after the surgery. I don’t expect him to be out for half a season or a year, but I can’t say for sure. This is a challenge. We didn’t expect this at all because when it comes to consistency and availability in the defensive line, Ben was probably the best along with Gabi and Vilo [Габриэлем Магальяэсом и Вильямом Салиба]. So we will miss him, but it happened and we will have to look for an alternative,” the coach admitted.

Let us remind you that on November 13 it became known that 27-year-old White underwent knee surgery. It was reported that the surgery was minor and the player and club decided to perform it during the international window for national team matches. Ben White has played through pain over the past few weeks and has been plagued by knee problems for much of this season.

White has already missed about a month this season and has made six appearances for Arsenal since his return from the hospital at the end of October.

Arteta is struggling with his defensive players, with Riccardo Calafiori, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney also in the hospital. Ukrainian Alexander Zinchenko, who has only five appearances on the field this campaign (three in the championship), also missed at least a month due to injury.

Arsenal are in fourth place in the Premier League after 11 rounds played, with 19 points to their name. The Gunners will play their next match on November 23 at home against Nottingham Forest.