Mikel Arteta has pushed back against suggestions that Bruno Guimaraes is set for a long spell on the sidelines, insisting the player didn’t even want to miss a game.
Bruno Guimaraes picked up an injury in Arsenal’s Community Shield win over Manchester City, and the summer signing was ruled out of the Gunners’ Premier League opener against Coventry City as a result.
Newcastle-based journalists stirred the pot in midweek, with Luke Edwards of The Telegraph claiming it could be a few weeks out for the midfielder. Others suggested it might even be as many as six or seven weeks out.
But when asked if it might be that long, Mikel Arteta pushed back strongly against those claims.
“No, no, no,” Arteta said. “No, we expect that not to be ‘weeks’ at all. Let’s see how he evolves this week, [but] he didn’t even want to stop.
“He wanted to carry on, and we start to understand the character of the player! But I don’t expect that to be a big issue.”
As a reminder, Arsenal are next in action against Aston Villa on Monday, August 31st. So the Gunners have well over a week between fixtures.
Arsenal made a big investment in Guimaraes this summer, paying £75m for a player who is already 28 years old.
The hope is that the Brazilian will immediately slot into the team and perform, helping Arsenal to win trophies sooner rather than later. Bruno isn’t a long-term project, he’s Premier League-proven and in his peak years.
The fans got a glimpse of that during the Community Shield, with the midfielder showing plenty of ability and drive in a comfortable 3-0 win. But it’s obviously a setback to have lost the player to injury immediately after his debut.
But with Arteta suggesting the problem is nothing too serious, perhaps there’s a chance the Coventry City win is the only game the player will miss.
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