Selina Cerci has undergone a knee procedure after an issue that had troubled her since pre-season worsened despite her remaining involved in training.
Selina Cerci has undergone a procedure on the knee problem that has troubled her since pre-season, with Arsenal manager Renee Slegers confirming the decision was taken after her symptoms became too much to continue managing.
Cerci had remained involved in most training sessions despite the problem and was able to play, but her integration into the team was affected.
Recently, she withdrew from the Germany squad with knee problems on October 8, having played only 40 minutes for Arsenal this season.
Slegers said the issue had been present during pre-season and eventually reached the point where further investigation was required.
“She has been available, she has trained the majority of training sessions with the team … But it became too much and with Germany they did a scan and the best solution going forward was to clean it up,” she said.
Arsenal have not disclosed the exact damage found in Cerci’s knee nor the precise procedure performed. Slegers has described the operation as a “clean-up” and said the forward will be unavailable “for a while”, but no firm return date has been given.
The club have also not confirmed whether the ‘clean-up’ involved cartilage, meniscus, inflamed tissue or something else, which knee was operated on, nor whether the problem has any connection with Cerci’s previous ACL injury.
Cerci suffered that ACL injury in 2022 while playing for Turbine Potsdam. After returning with Koln, she experienced further knee problems, with the German club saying in November 2023 that those issues resulted from her earlier injury.
Arsenal fans will no doubt be thinking about Leah Williamson who underwent what was described as a successful “minor clean-up” on her knee in August 2025 after swelling persisted following an injury sustained in the Euros final.
Williamson’s initial prognosis was expected to be “weeks rather than months”, but she did not return for a match until December 13, when she came on in the 82nd minute of Arsenal’s 3-1 victory away to Everton.
The interval from the announcement of Williamson’s operation on August 21 to that appearance was 114 days, or just over 16 weeks.
Her experience shows that the description “minor clean-up” does not by itself provide a reliable indication of how quickly a player will return.
It does not follow, of course, that Cerci faces a similar absence.
Arsenal have not said publicly whether the two procedures involved the same structures or comparable damage, and Slegers has offered no timetable beyond saying the summer signing will be out “for a while”.
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