Arsenal new boy Mathieu Debuchy is looking at about two months on the sidelines after suffering a bad ankle sprain in Saturday’s match with Manchester City, according to French media outlet Le Parisien.
Debuchy was injured in a non-contact manner as his right ankle buckled after an awkward step while chasing the ball. He went down immediately and was in very obvious pain as trainers attended to him on the ground. He was eventually stretchered off.
The reported timeframe would keep the 29-year-old out for an important Premier League fixture against Chelsea plus the North London derby against Spurs at the end of the month. He would also miss Champions League matches against Borussia Dortmund, Galatasaray and Anderlecht.
Injury expert Ben Dinnery said on Twitter that based on initial findings on Debuchy, the Parisien report is likely to be a good estimate, and that best-case scenario could see Debuchy back in a month, although surgery would complicate matters should it be required. Dinnery also notes that a timetable is hard to judge at this point because swelling is preventing accurate scans of the injury and that it could be another week or two before that subsides.
Arsene Wenger after the match said he wasn’t sure how long Debuchy would be out but that “it doesn’t look good,” something the average viewer easily picked up seeing the defender writhing on the ground in pain.
The Frenchman was bought over the summer from Newcastle and was meant to replace the departing Bacary Sagna, but now Arsene Wenger will have to scramble to find a new right-back.
That replacement could come in the form of fellow new signing Calum Chambers, who replaced Debuchy in the match. However, despite his versatility Chambers is thought to be a better central defender, hence Wenger’s shifting of him to the middle.