Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice will miss the Champions League away match against Brugge, which is scheduled for Wednesday evening.
According to İdman.Biz, one of the team’s key players was deemed too ill to travel with the squad to Belgium, further weakening an already depleted Arsenal lineup.
Rice began to feel unwell shortly after the defeat to Aston Villa last weekend. Despite attempts to speed up his recovery, the 26-year-old midfielder was unable to join the team. His absence is far from Arteta’s only concern.
William Saliba, who has been struggling with a chronic injury for several weeks, also remains unavailable. Leandro Trossard - who had only just returned from injury and scored against Villa - suffered a new setback and was forced to leave the pitch early. Arteta confirmed that the Belgian will not play in Brugge, though the recovery is not expected to be lengthy.
Additionally, Arsenal are without Kai Havertz, defenders Gabriel Magalhães and Kristian Mosquera. Only recently did Viktor Gyökeres return to training after his own injury.
At the press conference, Mikel Arteta acknowledged the seriousness of the situation:
“Declan was ill. After the game he felt much worse, and he didn’t travel with us. William is still unavailable, and Leo was injured again in the same area he had problems with. I don’t think it will take long, but unfortunately he won’t be able to play,” Arteta said.
To compensate for the losses, the club made changes to their Champions League squad, adding Gabriel Jesus, who recovered earlier than expected after cruciate ligament surgery. This was made possible by removing 15-year-old Max Daumann, who suffered an injury while playing for Arsenal’s U-21 team last weekend.
“Max was injured last week and will be out for several weeks. But Gabi worked very hard and managed to return earlier than we expected,” Arteta added.
