Arsenal youth left-back Joel Lopez missed the u23 match against Derby after breaking his wrist, but it’s not likely to keep him out for long.

One of Arsenal’s in-form academy players right now is former Barcelona left-back Joel Lopez, so it was a surprise to see him out of the u23 squad to face Derby County on Friday night.

Daily Cannon sources inform us the player broke his wrist, and he was therefore unable to feature for at least a week afterwards. The good news is Lopez hopes to be back for the next game. As it’s only a wrist injury, he can play with a protective brace.

The u21s next play on December 8th in the EFL Trophy against AFC Wimbledon, and the u23s don’t have a league game until December 18th, so Lopez has some time before those fixtures anyway.

Given he only has to spend a week out completely, it’s also possible Lopez could return in time for one of the first team’s Europa League group stage games.

Having already qualified for the knockout stages, Mikel Arteta has the option to rotate.

The youngster is certainly earning that chance on form, it’s just a case of whether he has enough time to impress Arteta in training after completing his seven-day absence from match action. There are no guarantees, but you never know.