Mikel Arteta confirms Gabriel injury and rues losing ‘leader of our backline’

Mikel Arteta expects Gabriel Magalhães to be out for weeks with the thigh injury sustained on international duty and admitted losing “the leader of our backline” was a blow to Arsenal’s title aspirations.

The Brazil defender was sent back to Arsenal for treatment after picking up the injury in a friendly against Senegal at the Emirates last weekend. Arteta revealed Gabriel was due to have further scans on Wednesday, the day Arsenal host Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Riccardo Calafiori is a doubt for Sunday’s derby at home to Tottenham having not trained since returning early from international duty with Italy because of a hip problem, and Arsenal could be without several key attackers. Arteta, whose side are four points clear at the top of the Premier League, believes he has a deep enough squad to cope without Gabriel.

“He’s going to be out for weeks,” he said. “It’s clearly a blow because it’s our leader in our backline and to me it’s obviously never a positive thing. The good thing is that we have very good options and people have to stand up now and do their job.”

Arsenal have conceded only five goals in 17 matches this season and Cristhian Mosquera or Piero Hincapié, both signed in the summer to provide more defensive cover, are in line to replace Gabriel. It is understood that the captain, Martin Ødegaard, could return from a knee injury against Spurs having been out since the start of September but Arteta would not speculate when Gabriel Martinelli, Viktor Gyökeres or Noni Madueke may be back.

Bukayo Saka is expected to retain the armband if Ødegaard is not ready to start and Arteta expressed confidence that the England forward would extend his contract, which expires in 2027. “What I’m very aware of is that he wants to continue with us, that he’s very happy,” he said.