Mikel Arteta sought to calm concern over Gabriel Magalh\u00e3es after the centre back was withdrawn during Arsenal\u2019s victory over Olympiacos. The manager described the substitution as a precaution and indicated the issue is not expected to be serious.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s going to be OK,\u201d Arteta explained.<\/p>\n
Arteta said the problem stemmed from a first-half challenge. \u201cI think it was a kick, in the first half, and it was a bit uncomfortable. He could carry on but we decided not to take any risks because he\u2019s played a lot of games. He\u2019s coming back from a long-term injury and we need to look after him.\u201d Those comments underline a cautious approach given Gabriel\u2019s recent long-term layoff and his heavy workload since returning.<\/p>\n
Despite the reassurance, Arsenal face a short wait to confirm whether Gabriel will be available for Saturday\u2019s Premier League meeting with West Ham United. The Brazilian has played every minute of league action so far this season, following a hamstring injury that ended his 2024\u201325 campaign in April, so any enforced absence would halt that run.<\/p>\n
Arsenal\u2019s defensive options provide cover. Cristhian Mosquera replaced Gabriel alongside William Saliba when the change was made, and Riccardo Calafiori can also operate centrally despite being used primarily on the left in England. Piero Hincapi\u00e9 remains out with a groin issue; while his setback is not expected to be lengthy, the Ecuador international will not be fit for Saturday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
Arteta\u2019s handling of Gabriel\u2019s withdrawal reflects a priority on long-term fitness over short-term gain. With rotation and alternatives available, Arsenal will monitor the centre back closely ahead of their domestic fixture, balancing the desire to maintain an unbeaten run of appearances for Gabriel against the need to manage his recovery following a significant prior injury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arteta: Gabriel expected to recover after being withdrawn vs Olympiacos; West Ham fitness watch plan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3466,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,172],"tags":[1100,1099],"class_list":["post-3467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal","category-epl","tag-defence","tag-gabriel-magalhaes-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3467","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=3467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}