William Saliba is increasingly being viewed as a possible November return for Arsenal, a development that would hand Mikel Arteta a major defensive boost ahead of a demanding winter schedule.<\/p>\n
The centre back has not played since the pain from a long-running back problem became too much to manage. Over the summer, he pushed through Arsenal\u2019s Premier League run-in and their progress to the Champions League final, before eventually being forced off in the World Cup semifinal loss to Spain. Since then, the wait for a clear update has continued, with Arteta only previously describing the issue as \u201clong-term\u201d.<\/p>\n
Concerns that Saliba could be out until 2027 now appear to have eased. According to L\u2019\u00c9quipe, the France international could be back on the pitch \u201csometime in November.\u201d That remains a loose timeline, but it is still a more encouraging picture than the one Arsenal feared not long ago.<\/p>\n
The report adds that Saliba knows he must not rush himself back. A source said: \u201cHe knows he has to take his time. He\u2019s suffered too much and wants to return at 100%\u201d even if Saliba \u201cmisses it terribly.\u201d<\/p>\n
That caution matters. Saliba has already spent more than two months on the sidelines, and an early return could risk a setback that sends him back into treatment. Arsenal\u2019s upcoming schedule gives little room for error.<\/p>\n
Their first major test after the November international break is away to Newcastle United, a ground that has caused them problems in the past. Before last season\u2019s dramatic win there, Arsenal had lost three straight trips to St James\u2019 Park. That match could be followed by a run containing Borussia Dortmund, Man City, Brentford, Tottenham, Real Madrid, Bournemouth and Man Utd, plus Carabao Cup quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
Whether Saliba is ready for that stretch or not, Arsenal will be hoping the wait ends soon, but only when he is truly fit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Saliba could return in November as Arsenal prepare for a difficult run of fixtures without rushing him back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21181,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,1647,172],"tags":[1754,1047,242],"class_list":["post-21182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal","category-champions-league","category-epl","tag-2026-27-fixtures","tag-champions-league","tag-injury"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}