Mikel Arteta had a somewhat concerning team news update for the media ahead of Arsenal’s weekend clash with Bournemouth.

Mikel Arteta didn’t have much in the way of good news when providing updates on the fitness status of the Arsenal squad on Friday morning.

“Declan [Rice] hasn’t trained yet,” Arteta began. “We have a session in an hour, we’ll get more news about him.

“Gabi [Martinelli] hasn’t trained, Leo [Trossard] same situation, [Bukayo] Saka, same. They are all in the same pool, Willy [Saliba] had a knock, Fabio [Vieira] wasn’t involved. We have to assess them today.”

In some cases, this update is no surprise. Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli were always long shots to be back in time for Saturday’s game.

We also knew that Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice would face a race against time to be fit, having only suffered their injuries last weekend. The hope is that they’ll both still return in time.

But the news of injuries to William Saliba and Fabio Vieira are fresh blows to the squad.

Neither player was involved in Wednesday’s squad against Brentford, but at the time the assumption was that they were just being rested. It’s not known exactly what problems they’re contending with ahead of the Bournemouth game.

The above injuries are in addition to the long-term problems for Jurrien Timber and Thomas Partey, who also won’t be available against Bournemouth.

As a result, it’s not impossible Arsenal could be missing as many as eight senior players through injury on Saturday, most of whom are potential starters.

The number will hopefully be lower than that, but Arteta may need to call on the academy once again to fill spots in the squad.