Arsenal’s official 2026/27 squad photograph drew attention for one clear absence: William Saliba was not in it.

Given Saliba’s importance to Arsenal’s progress, and to their title triumph last season when they became England’s soccer champions for the first time in 22 years, his omission stood out immediately. The defender has been central to the club’s rise, despite arriving as a teenager in 2019 and not establishing himself as a first-team regular until three years later.

His absence from the image was not related to anything behind the scenes. Arsenal explained that the shoot clashed with a pre-arranged medical appointment, meaning he was unavailable on the day.

“Due to a medical appointment, William Saliba was not available this afternoon.”

The reason for that appointment is tied to the back injury he sustained during the 2026 World Cup. Saliba has yet to play a minute this season after aggravating a pre-existing back complaint in France’s semifinal defeat to Spain at AT&T Stadium on July 14. He was initially described as being out for an “extended period,” and his recovery has taken months.

There are, however, signs of progress. In early October, he returned to individual work on grass, which is often an important stage of rehabilitation. More recently, Arteta offered a measured but encouraging update.

“We’re managing that load. He’s building his capacity to good standards, and let’s see in the next few weeks,” the Gunners boss explained.

“We’re still talking about weeks. When that happens, it’s very different whether he would play just before or just after [the next international break in November]. I cannot tell you exactly.”

For now, Saliba remains sidelined, but Arsenal’s latest update suggests the end of his layoff may be approaching.

Mikel Arteta has welcomed Lionel Messi’s apparent backing of Max Dowman, even if the source of the prediction remains open to doubt. A recent adidas campaign placed the Arsenal teenager among 10 players expected to shape football’s next era, with Messi framed as the figure making the selections.

The commercial has understandably prompted some scepticism, not least because every player featured is signed to adidas. Even so, Dowman’s progress at Arsenal has already been striking. By 16, he has advanced at a pace that points toward the possibility of top-level football in time.

Arteta was asked this week about Messi’s supposed view of the youngster, and he responded in full support of the idea. “If Messi, who is the best ever player, says that … his eyes are I think better than anybody else’s. Hopefully he’s right,” the Arsenal boss said.

For Arteta, the wider point matters more than the campaign itself. Dowman has already broken through in unusual fashion, playing Under-18s football for Arsenal at 13 and then turning out for the Under-21s at 14. He is the Premier League’s youngest ever goalscorer and its second youngest player. He is also the youngest Premier League champion and the youngest ever Champions League player.

This season, Dowman has scored twice in a Carabao Cup win for Arsenal and has made one Premier League appearance, while continuing to share time with the Under-21s. He will not turn 17, and therefore cannot legally drive in the U.K., until Dec. 31.

Arteta believes the teenager’s ceiling remains enormous. “In the few appearances he’s had, he’s already done remarkable things. That’s somebody that is touched with a special gift,” he said.

“He’s a joy to watch. The way he moves, the way he touches the ball, the way he carries himself, it’s just different. And that’s what makes him unique.”

Jack Wilshere, who managed Dowman in Arsenal’s Under-18s and once coached him as a 13-year-old, has also described the scale of his talent. “Don’t get into a duel, take one or two touches, move it around,” Wilshere recalled telling him. “He picked up the ball, dribbled round five players, squared it and we [scored]. I have never seen anything like it.

“He went on with us and developed a bit more, and physically his numbers were a joke … the metrics they use now—high-speed running, sprints, total distance—were Premier League level and he was 14. He can be what he wants. He’s got a good family around him as well.”

Wilshere added that the next stage is consistency. “get into the team and stay in the team,” he said. “He’ll probably have to play on the sides if he wants a run in the team.” Arteta, meanwhile, believes Dowman can adapt when the time comes.

Arsenal’s 2-1 victory over Leeds United was followed by an unwelcome injury update, with Mikel Arteta confirming that Piero Hincapié was not the only player to suffer a setback after the match.

Arteta explained that the squad had been due to train after the game, but the session ended in trouble when two players were hurt in separate incidents. The Arsenal manager said the players had not built up enough minutes to find the right rhythm, and that the club was left dealing with the consequences of those issues.

“We had a training session planned after the game for the players,” Arteta told reporters. “They didn’t have enough minutes to get everybody in the right rhythm and in two very unfortunate actions, we lost two players.

“When they have to play, they have no rhythm, and when you ask them to play, they’re going to have no impact in the game. [The injuries] could happen at the Emirates; it never happened in the seven years I was here. It could happen the next day in the training session, and that has happened before, and hopefully it happens now and doesn’t happen again. What can you do? If I knew I had a crystal ball clear, I’d say: ‘Guys, go in the Jacuzzi, everybody, I’ll see you tomorrow.’”

Both players have since been sent for scans to assess ankle damage. Arteta sounded especially cautious about Hincapié, saying, “Piero’s one looks a little bit more serious I think, but we’ll have to wait and see,” he sighed.

The setback also arrives at a difficult moment for Zubimendi. Once viewed as a central piece of the midfield rebuild, the Spaniard started 34 Premier League games last season during Arsenal’s title-winning campaign. This season has brought a different picture, with the 27-year-old named on the bench for all six league matches so far and given only 89 minutes in the competition.

He now sits behind Bruno Guimarães and Myles Lewis-Skelly in the contest to partner Declan Rice, and this injury interruption is likely to keep him out for at least a short spell, probably a matter of weeks.