Arsenal Team News: Wenger Offers Update On Walcott, Monreal, Gnabry + More

Arsenal take on Southampton at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night in the third round of the Capital One Cup.

Ahead of the game, boss Arsene Wenger has given Arsenal.com a team news and injury update with the latest on a number of players including Theo Walcott, Serge Gnabry, Yaya Sanogo and Nacho Monreal.

Walcott has been on the sidelines since rupturing his knee ligament against Tottenham way back in January and Wenger has confirmed the attacker will finally return to full training after the upcoming international break.

Theo will be joined in training by German winger Gnabry – who has also been nursing a knee injury in recent weeks – while young French striker Yaya Sanogo should join the pair in being available towards the middle of next month as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury.

Unfortunately Nacho Monreal is going to miss tomorrow’s clash as he has still to overcome a back injury that’s seen him miss the last two games, but his absence could open the door to some of the younger players as Wenger confirmed that Hector Bellerin, Francis Coquelin, Isaac Hayden, Chuba Akpom and Semi Ajayi are all in the squad to face the Saints.

Here is what the boss told the clubs website:

on the young players who could feature…

On Tuesday night you might see Hector Bellerin, Francis Coquelin and Isaac Hayden. In the squad we have Chuba Akpom and Semi Ajayi as well. These are the players that are the closest.

on Chuba Akpom…

I’m happy that he has developed as a goalscorer, because when he was a younger kid, his problem was finishing. That has gone now. He’s a very good finisher and he has now to learn the tactical side of his game. Then he will be ready, because he is a huge talent.

on Isaac Hayden…

He’s a ball winner, he’s a good central defender and a good central midfielder. Technically he was working on his game a bit, but now he is ready for that level.

on Nacho Monreal…

He is not far, but he is not ready yet.

on Yaya Sanogo…

He is similar, he will be back after the international break.

on Walcott and Gnabry…

Theo is doing very well, and Gnabry is doing very well too. They should be available after the international break for full training.

It’s going to be interesting to see what kind of team Arsene will put out tomorrow but I think it will be a mix of youth and experience with old heads like Lukas Podolski, Mathieu Flamini and Tomas Rosicky all likely to get some playing time along with up-and-comers like Hayden and Bellerin.