Arsenal Handed Major Injury Boost As Star Returns Ahead Of Chelsea Trip

Embed from Getty Images

Arsenal have been handed a major injury boost with Nacho Monreal back in full training today ahead of Saturday’s trip to Chelsea.

Monreal missed Arsenal’s first Premier League game of the new season as he’s been working his way back from a knee injury that he sustained while representing Spain at the World Cup finals this summer.

The left-back was unable to feature in any of the north Londoners’ pre-season fixtures after returning back late following his exploits in Russia and only returned to light individual training last week.

However, Unai Emery has been handed a boost as the 32-year-old has been given the green light to resume full training with the rest of the Arsenal squad at London Colney today.

Monreal will be desperate to prove his fitness to the clubs coaching staff over the coming days as he bids to solve Arsenal’s left-back crisis ahead of their trip to Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening.

Sead Kolasinac is certain to miss out as he’s set for an extended spell on the sidelines with a knee injury that he picked up in pre-season while Ainsley Maitland-Niles limped out of the City game at the weekend.

The 20-year-old midfielder filled-in at left-back in the absence of Kolasinac and Monreal against the defending champions but was substituted midway through the first half following a clash of knees with Kyle Walker.

No official time-frame has been put on Maitland-Niles’ recovery but he’s almost certain to miss the Chelsea game on Saturday so Emery will be praying Monreal is passed fit to return at left-back. Veteran right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner is on stand-by to deputise if Monreal misses out.

Danny Welbeck is also pushing to make his return to the squad after continuing to work on his fitness this week following his late return to pre-season but Laurent Koscielny is still months away from recovering from Achilles surgery that he underwent back in May.