Arsenal Star Ruled Out For Up To 8 Weeks [BBC]

Arsenal defender Gabriel has been ruled out for up to eight weeks with an ankle ligament injury increasing Arsene Wenger’s need to sign another centre-back, according to the BBC.

Gabriel was forced off on a stretcher during our 3-2 friendly victory over Manchester City on Sunday night after suffering a nasty ankle problem during the final minute of the game.

The Brazilian international was visibly upset as he received several minutes of treatment on the field and was seen leaving the stadium on crutches as he made his way back to London with the rest of the squad.

Arsene Wenger confirmed after the match that Gabriel had suffered ligament damage but they were waiting on scan results to come back before they’d know the full extent of the problem.

The centre-back appeared to have handed Arsenal a major boost after he took to his personal Instagram page on Tuesday morning to claim the injury wasn’t ‘a big problem’.

However, the BBC have now provided an update and they claim that Gabriel has been ruled out for between six to eight weeks meaning he won’t be available until towards the end of September at the earliest.

With Per Mertesacker not expected to return from his knee injury until the start of 2017 and Laurent Koscielny only just returning to pre-season training following his exploits at Euro 2016, it leaves us extremely short of options at the back.

Calum Chambers is almost certain to start against Liverpool on Sunday and the youngster could be partnered by fellow England Under-21 international Rob Holding – who’s yet to make an appearance in the Premier League.

Mahrez snapped at Chelsea hotel as agent meets Conte

The BBC claim that Wenger will now step-up his pursuit of Valencia’s Shkodran Mustafi with a bid for the German international now expected to go in before the end of the week.