Doctor eases Arsenal fans’ worries over William Saliba after recent injury

Add as preferred source on Google

Arsenal defender William Saliba is highly unlikely to experience lasting damage to his foot after breaking his metatarsal recently.

The young centre-back is currently on loan at Saint-Etienne, after the Gunners had signed him for £27 million from the French club in the summer (BBC Sport).

Saliba began the season injured, but returned recently to impress for a handful of games for the Ligue 1 outfit.

But he sustained a crack to his fifth metatarsal against AS Monaco and is now back on the sidelines.

Some Arsenal fans have been a little worried about the nature of the injury as it certainly doesn’t sound good.

But injury rehabilitation and prevention expert Dr. Rajpal Brar reckons there is actually little cause for concern.

Speaking on the YouTube channel 3CB Performance, he said: “There’s been no indication Saliba underwent a surgical procedure and if one was required, it would have almost certainly taken place already.

“The great news is that outcomes are excellent with this kind of injury. The rates of ‘non-union’, aka the crack not healing, are very low between 0.5% and 1% with no evidence showing increased risk of re-injury or negative impact on performance.

“Gradual, methodical physio and strength and conditioning can mitigate many of these injury risks. If his return after his ankle surgery is any indication, he won’t have missed much of a developmental step when he gets back either.

“Overall, if my inferences are correct, it’s a relatively mild injury and I don’t expect it to limit Saliba’s trajectory or performance levels in the medium or long term.”

TBR’s view – Saliba Arsenal’s big hope

The assessment from Dr. Brar will be welcomed by Arsenal supporters, who are hoping Saliba gets a good final season under his belt before joining up with the Gunners next summer.

Arsenal’s defence has continued to look weak in 2019/20, and many are hoping the talented 18-year-old can come in and shore things up for the north Londoners.