"Tried to avoid surgery" – Arteta reveals details of Tomiyasu's injury

Arsenal defender Takehiro Tomiyasu has undergone surgery after suffering an injury and could now miss the start of next season. Mikel Arteta commented on the situation.

Details: Speaking at a press conference, the Arsenal manager explained that the Japanese defender initially hoped to avoid surgery, but the issues with his knee turned out to be more severe than expected.

Quote: "Tomiyasu did everything possible to avoid surgery. At some point, his knee wasn’t responding as well or as quickly as we needed. We decided that the best thing was to operate again. It’s so sad. He’s a player who lives for the game," Arteta said.

Meanwhile, Arteta is optimistic that wingers Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka will return from their injuries by April. There is a chance that both players could recover in time for Arsenal's first game after the international break at the end of March.

Reminder: In Arsenal’s last match against Leicester, the club’s injury crisis forced Mikel Merino, a natural midfielder, to play as a central forward—where he managed to score a brace.