Gabriel Magalhaes is the latest Arsenal star set for an absence and boss Mikel Arteta bas confirmed that the Brazilian will miss significant time for the Premier League leaders.
Magalhaes, 27, was substituted in the 65th minute of Brazil’s weekend friendly with Senegal at the Emirates Stadium in North London, leaving the pitch with a limp after receiving treatment to his right upper leg.
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He did not travel with the Selecao for their Tuesday friendly with Tunisia in Lille.
The Athletic’s James McNicholas, citing a source speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that “initial examinations suggest he will miss a month or two” ahead of further scans.
And Arteta used the word ‘weeks’ to describe Gabriel’s absence, adding that further testing will be done Wednesday and give a clearer recovery time for the big back.
Injuries to important players rarely occur with good timing, but this absence could be tough as the Gunners also wait on influential left back Riccardo Calafiori.
Mikel Arteta updates Gabriel Magalhaes injury news
Arteta spoke Friday before the Gunners’ big North London derby on Sunday.
“Gabi unfortunately picked up an injury with the national team — he will be out for weeks,” Arteta said, transcribed by our friends at Sky Sports.
“We need to have another scan next Wednesday. We will have the timeline much more clearly than we have at the moment.
“It’s clearly a blow. It’s our leader in our backline. To miss him is never a positive thing. The good thing is we have some very good options. They need to stand up now.”
Arsenal’s upcoming schedule: Which games could Gabriel Magalhaes miss and who will fill the void?
The big center back now seems likely to miss Sunday’s North London derby with Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium, and there’s no looming soft spot on the schedule.
A Champions League visit from Bayern Munich follows on Wednesday, and it’s a trip to Chelsea on November 30.
Brenford, Aston Villa, Club Brugge (UCL), and Wolves complete the first month’s time line, followed by Everton, Crystal Palace in the League Cup quarterfinal, Brighton, Villa, Bournemouth, an undetermined FA Cup match, and Nottingham Forest.
A trip to Inter Milan in the Champions League on Jan. 20 is two months and two days from post time.
Cristhian Mosquera has impressed in limited minutes since arriving at Arsenal from Valencia, and Calafiori’s injury further challenges the club’s center back depth. Ben White is also an option, though Arteta has not often called his number this year. Jurrien Timber, also dinged up at the moment, has played center back in his career.
Gabriel Magalhaes injury history
Arsenal, of course, have started this season in brilliant fashion and Magalhaes has been a massive part of their handling of injuries to a number of stars including Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, and Kai Havertz.
Magalhaes missed two stretches of games last Premier League season. Arsenal won one and drew one when he hurt his knee in December — not bad — but they really took a hit when he pulled his hamstring last April. The Gunners dropped points in five of eight outings, going 3W-4D-1L despite playing five of those eight games against teams 12th or worst on the table.
The Champions League was a bit different. Arsenal won a group stage match vs Monaco without Magalhaes, then beat Real Madrid home and away in the quarterfinals before losing twice to PSG in the semifinals.
He had been remarkably sturdy in the preceding seasons, playing 109 of 114 Premier League matches between the 2021-22 and 2023-24 seasons.
