Arsenal injury news: Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli and Kai Havertz updates

Mikel Arteta has provided updates on a whole host of Arsenal players following a series of injury concerns which arose around the international break.

The Gunners travel to Bournemouth for a 5.30pm kick-off on Saturday as the Premier League returns after a two-week break. They are in good shape, sitting third behind Liverpool and Manchester City and with their unbeaten record intact after seven games.

However, there are some worried Arsenal fans, with the international break throwing up further injuries to the squad. The sight of Bukayo Saka limping out of England’s 2-1 defeat by Greece brought to mind the injury sustained by Martin Odegaard while playing for Norway in September.

Thankfully, Saka should be available to play against Bournemouth – and Arteta generally had positive news to share when he spoke to the media on Friday morning. Here Mirror Football breaks down the latest Arsenal injury news.

Bukayo Saka

Saka missed England’s 3-1 win over Finland on Sunday after returning to Arsenal in the wake of the injury against Greece. England interim boss Lee Carsley said he expected Saka to be “fine” earlier this week and Arteta confirmed that to be the case.

“It’s not a serious injury,” the Arsenal manager said. “He’s evolving really well, he’s done a few things over the last two days. He really wasn’t fit enough to play with the national team, the second game, but we are hopeful. We have a training session this afternoon. He did some bits yesterday, so let’s see if he can make it on time.“

Image: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images) Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Kai Havertz

The Arsenal forward did not play for Germany during the international break, but will look to continue his superb form against Bournemouth, provided he trains well on Friday afternoon.

“He had a few issues,” Arteta said. “We’ve been dealing with that. He’s been absolutely brilliant. He has very good communication with the national team and manager and they understood the situation. We have modified everything that we could do here. If he trains well today, he has a good chance to be fit and available.”

Martin Odegaard

Odegaard has been working hard in the gym at Arsenal in a bid to return as soon as possible, having been injured on September 9. Things are certainly going in the right direction for the Arsenal striker.

“He’s not going to be fit for this game,” Arteta said. “Next week will be a different story. But again, in that later stage of the rehab, where he is at the moment, because already he’s doing a lot of stuff, he needs to clear some markers, clear some certain things and be comfortable doing especially with the ball. I think next week will be crucial to see how close he is.”

Asked if he is confident Odegaard will be back playing before the next international break in mid-November, Arteta replied: "Yes."

Image: DeFodi Images via Getty Images) DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

Gabriel Martinelli

The Arsenal striker travelled to South America to play for Brazil in their World Cup qualifiers. He came off the bench in the 2-1 win over Chile but sat out of the 4-0 win over Peru following an injury scare.

“With Gabi, he landed yesterday afternoon here, so we’ve had a very short time to be with him,” Arteta said. “Yesterday he went outside a little bit to see how he’s feeling and today will be the next step to understand whether we want to take the risk, if he’s fit. Because I know what the player is going to say: ‘I will be fit, for sure’.”

Image: JAVIER TORRES/AFP via Getty Images) JAVIER TORRES/AFP via Getty Images)

Ben White, Jurrien Timber, Oleksandr Zinchenko

The Arsenal defensive trio have all been battling injury problems. Arsenal are in desperate need of defensive reinforcements and Arteta is hopeful they will get some relief.

“They are quite close, the three of them,” he said. “Again, today we are going to have to try and push and see who is [fit] because obviously we are struggling a bit with the numbers a bit, especially in the right side. But hopefully we’ll have some positive news today and we’ll get some players back.”

Takehiro Tomiyasu

Image: Stuart MacFarlane) Stuart MacFarlane)

Tomiyasu has suffered a setback on the knee injury he suffered in pre-season. The Japan international made a comeback as a late substitute against Southampton two weeks ago, but will now be sidelined again.

Asked how long Tomiyasu will be out for, Arteta said: "We don’t know that. It doesn’t look like, hopefully, a long period but we have to see when he comes back how he reacts to the load and to the impact on the pitch as well.

"But we really need him, he has been incredible, his work rate, the amount of hours he has put in to get back. He did it and he was in great shape – and now he has got something else again. But, we are all behind him. He needs our support and hopefully he will be fine."

Thomas Partey

Arteta confirmed that Partey is fit and available to feature against Bournemouth, despite withdrawing from international duty with Ghana due to illness.

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