Arsenal have been warned that Ben White may be unavailable until at least the middle of January after fresh testing of his injury. BBC Sport reports Arsenal “fear” White’s absence will be for a “minimum of a month” while he recovers from the setback. That best case timeline would see the 28-year-old miss seven or eight matches across three competitions; the absence could stretch longer.

The schedule through mid-January presents a congested spell. Arsenal face Everton in the Premier League on Dec. 20 before a Carabao Cup quarterfinal against Crystal Palace on Dec. 23. League fixtures follow against Brighton on Dec. 27 and Aston Villa on Dec. 30. After the turn of the year Arsenal play Bournemouth (Jan. 3), Liverpool (Jan. 8), then travel to Portsmouth in the FA Cup third round on Jan. 11, and host Nottingham Forest on Jan. 17.

Those fixtures mean a player missing a month could be absent for important matches in the Premier League, the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup. The club had seen improving cover in defence recently. William Saliba returned to the team after injury against Wolves, allowing Piero Hincapié to move to the left as Riccardo Calafiori served a suspension. Jurriën Timber had been required to cover absences in the centre of defence, and White, after being an unused substitute for much of the season, had begun to start games.

When White left the pitch, Myles Lewis-Skelly, the only defender on the bench, was the chosen replacement. That selection underlines the limits of available options on a given matchday and explains why the reported recovery timeline will be followed closely at the club. Arsenal will continue to monitor White’s progress as they plan for the busy fixture list that runs through mid-January.

William Saliba has been candid about the uncertainty that marked his early years at Arsenal and how those experiences shaped the player he is today. Arriving as a 19-year-old, Saliba did not immediately break into Mikel Arteta’s plans and spent time with the U23s before a sequence of loans that took him back to France.

“It was a bit hard because I arrived from France, then went back on loan, then six months after I came back here, I went back to France again,” Saliba recalled in an interview with Arsenal’s official website.

“Six months there, then I changed club, then I came back here. So it was difficult. I was living in a hotel when I came here at first, then I found a house but went back to France, so when I came back after that I wanted to settle down quickly.”

Those repeated moves left Saliba questioning his future at the club. “I had some doubts because when you go on loan two or three times, you think maybe it’s not here that I will play,” he candidly admitted. “But it’s like this, in football you have some doubts sometimes, but you have to make sure you forget your doubts and you move forward, and that’s what I did.

“So I went on loan, I kept going to improve. Then I came back here stronger. When I came back I played almost every game. When you have a new career, you have to adapt because you will have some moments where things won’t go how you want. So you have to adapt and of course you have to be strong mentally to be prepared for anything.”

Arteta handed him a starting role at the beginning of the 2022–23 season and Saliba kept a clean sheet in a 2–0 win at Crystal Palace. Since his Premier League debut, made 1,107 days after signing for Arsenal, his rise has been marked by consistent selection and recognition; he won Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year during his loan period and is widely considered one of the best in his position.

Talk of outside interest surfaced as his initial contract neared its end, but Saliba committed his future to the club with a long-term extension in September. “Everything was complete for me,” Saliba shrugged. “We have a good team, we have a good coach, we have good staff. And I’m sure that the future here will be very good, so there was no hesitation to extend my contract with Arsenal.

Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal were forced into a risky situation on Saturday when William Saliba remained on the pitch for the full 90 minutes following Ben White’s early withdrawal. With Ben White leaving in the first half there was no way to manage Saliba’s minutes despite the manager’s clear misgivings.

Arteta said: “We had to risk Willy,” Arteta fretted. “It probably wasn’t the best call to play 90 minutes because we were buying tickets for another injury. But we don’t have anybody else. That’s dangerous, for sure.” The comment underlined the strain on Arsenal’s defensive resources.

Saliba’s return lasted far longer than the manager would have preferred, but the centre back appeared to come through the contest unscathed and will not be required to play again for at least seven days as the club have a short respite. The immediate outlook for White is less clear.

The right back pulled up clasping the back of his leg as Wolves launched a rare break led by Hwang Hee-chan after an Arsenal long throw. David Raya had to make a save and White, part of the chasing pack, then went off. Arteta said it “looks like a hamstring” and added: “We don’t know the extent of that.”

On the broader cause, the manager blamed overloading of minutes. “Obviously he hasn’t played a lot of minutes because of the previous knee issue that he had, then the moment he started to get some momentum he had to play a lot because we didn’t have any other solution,” Arteta moaned.

Arsenal’s defensive list already included Gabriel and Cristhian Mosquera, while Riccardo Calafiori was suspended. That leaves Jurriën Timber increasingly relied upon to cover multiple roles; Timber has been useful through the middle but will now be needed at right back until White or Mosquera return to full fitness, which the manager suggested could be well into 2026.

Current squad injury notes list Gabriel out until late December, Cristhian Mosquera out until early January, Ben White out, William Saliba fit but recently returned, Jurriën Timber fit but not 100%, Riccardo Calafiori returning from suspension and Piero Hincapié fit. Myles Lewis-Skelly is also listed as a left back.