Not for the primary time, Bukayo Saka’s fitness is a priority for Arsenal fans.
The 24-year-old has so often been an ever-present figure in Mikel Arteta’s starting XI, once playing 87 consecutive Premier League games for the Gunners.
Arsenal have gone a way in addressing their overreliance on the Hale End academy graduate who has repeatedly carried them through the years. But in a season where they finally have viable alternatives, his output has dropped.
A return of nine goals and 7 assists is meagre by his standards. While one can argue the style during which Arsenal are playing this season has impacted that, Saka has at times been removed from his usual self.
While only he can say needless to say, physical demands placed on him through the years could possibly be playing a task.
Last season, Saka missed three months – 21 games in total – with a torn hamstring that required surgery. Early within the 2025-26 season there was one other hamstring issue, albeit a less severe one which saw him sit out of 5 matches.
A hip problem saw him miss games against Leeds, Sunderland and Chelsea in late January along with his latest Achilles injury a priority heading into Sunday’s titanic Premier League clash with Manchester City.
As is typical of the Arsenal manager, Arteta has been cautious over revealing details behind his latest issue. Saka withdrew from international duty with England in March and missed games against Southampton, the primary leg against Sporting CP and the weekend defeat to Bournemouth before his manager eventually disclosed it’s an Achilles injury hampering his winger.
‘It’s something that he was carrying for some time,’ Arteta said. ‘It’s progression but hopefully it’s going to be a matter of days and never weeks. But he has to see when the load is more how he responds to that type of progression.’
Achilles injuries have dominated headlines this week after Hugo Etkike’s devastating blow against Paris Saint-Germain. The Liverpool striker has suffered a rupture of his Achilles tendon, ending his season and his hopes of playing for France on the World Cup this summer. It’s thought to be one of the vital serious injuries a footballer can pick up with the recovery process long and painful.
Saka’s issue is probably going at the opposite end of the of Achilles injury spectrum, a ‘common and manageable’ one based on Stephen Smith, CEO and founding father of Kitman Labs which specialises in injury welfare.
Arsenal haven’t disclosed the precise nature of the issue but a tendonitis or a tendinopathy, inflammation of the tendon from repetitive strain, is prone to be the source of Saka’s current woes.
It must be no surprise that Arsenal have been exercising extreme caution over considered one of their most prized assets with managing the injury the answer at once reasonably than a fast fix.
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‘These issues might be caused once you get these tiny pieces of microtrauma across the tendon that causes swelling and causes pain,’ Smith told Metro. ‘That’s very, quite common.
‘They’ll manage him, manage his training and exercise load they usually shall be treating that very otherwise to how they’d if it was a tear or a rupture. But it is vitally common and manageable.
‘It isn’t about taking him out of the image for a protracted period and treating it, it’s about managing it. If that is what it’s, it’s a chronic issue that may persist for numerous seasons that players must learn to administer. The medical staff shall be taking a look at how he responds day-to-day and if that pain or swelling is increasing, that could be a signal for them to intervene more so that they shall be consistently tracking things.
‘And they’re going to search for pockets of elongated time where they will either get him off his feet or time to go do strength and rehabilitation work.’
Arsenal have indeed kept Saka out of the firing line. His last appearance for the club was within the Carabao Cup final against City on 22 March, sitting out of England friendlies and his club’s 4 games for the reason that end of the international break.
He’s considered one of 4 doubts heading into the weekend with Jurrien Timber, Martin Odegaard and Riccardo Calafiori also unavailable in recent games.
Every game for Arsenal has been necessary but Sunday’s trip to the Etihad towers above all else. Have the Gunners been saving Saka for the large one? It’s a really likely situation, one every club can have utilised in some unspecified time in the future.
‘We call it tactical periodisation,’ Smith continued. ‘They shall be periodising their season, taking a look at the calendar tactically and pondering these are the games we wish to focus on and we want players in a certain condition for them.
‘They shall be build up all their preparation specifically for performance in that game. There isn’t any doubt in my mind they may have an motion plan for a way they may manage Saka and everybody else within the squad leading as much as the sport on Sunday.’
Pre-match press conferences often provide the most important indication whether a player will play on the weekend. But so often reporters and supporters have been left none the wiser when Arteta speaks, preferring to maintain his cards near his chest.
Only the Arsenal boss, his staff and Saka himself will know the way close he’s to returning when his club might need him most.
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