Arsenal and Mikel Arteta will be without a “world-class” player for the foreseeable future, alongside Ben White, and he’s away for the next “few weeks” for treatment on an injury.
Arsenal without Ben White for months after knee surgery
The makeshift right-back, who has seriously impressed in that role over the past two seasons, will be a very sore miss for Arteta.
Related
Arsenal looking at signing £50m Real Madrid forward alongside Arda Guler
The Gunners could raid Real in January.
White’s started at least 32 Premier League games for the Gunners in each of the last three seasons, since his arrival from Brighton for around £50 million in 2021, with the Englishman earning plaudits for his exceptional displays under Arteta.
He’s been forced to play on with a niggling injury for much of this season, and Arsenal chose to green-light surgery on the issue over the latest international break. The surgery, while successful, will keep White out for the foreseeable – dealing a real selection headache to Arteta.
Arsenal’s next five Premier League games | Date |
|---|---|
Nottingham Forest (home) | November 23 |
West Ham United (away) | November 30 |
Man United (home) | December 4 |
Fulham (away) | December 8 |
Everton (home) | December 14 |
“It’s been different kinds of struggles,” said Arteta on White’s surgery.
“It’s never been the same thing. We had to make a decision. It’s not been improving in the last few weeks unfortunately.
“We know that Ben is going to push every boundary but it got to a point a where we have to protect the player and we decided to do the surgery. He agreed with that, and unfortunately that’s going to keep him out for a few months.”
The north Londoners have already been forced to cope without the likes of club captain Martin Odegaard and summer signing Mikel Merino due to injury, so this latest news that White will be out until 2025 comes as a real blow.
Another “world-class” Arsenal player who’s been dealt real bad luck with injuries this season is versatile defender Takehiro Tomiyasu.
The Japan international has featured for just six minutes of Arsenal’s Premier League campaign, a brief cameo against Southampton, with Tomiyasu suffering from a reoccurring knee injury throughout 2024/2025.
Arsenal without Tomiyasu for next “few weeks” alongside Ben White
Amid White’s injury blow, Arteta shared that Tomiyasu will be away for the next “few weeks” for treatment on his injury, as he continues his own recovery.
“He is going to be away now for a few weeks to continue with his treatment and as well change a little bit the environment, because psychologically it has been really, really tough for him – as you can imagine,” said Arteta.
“He is a guy that the only thing he wants to do is work 24 hours to get better and he feels terrible when he is not fit. It’s a real shame, so we are going to give him the best opportunity to try out that kind of thing.
“If it can trigger something, unlock something and try to help him, to have him as quick as possible back – but I think we need to be patient.”
