BREAKING: Arteta issues fitness updates for eight players ahead of Bournemouth trip

Before the match against Bournemouth at the Vitality on Saturday, Mikel Arteta seemed to be rather optimistic about the state of his team.

It appears that all of the players are in contention for the trip to the South Coast, even though two players—Kai Havertz and Thomas Partey—dropped out of international service and Saka and Martinelli picked up injuries while they were abroad.

A good report was also provided regarding Martin Odegaard, who is still recovering from an ankle ligament injury. Regretfully, the manager disclosed that Takehiro Tomiyasu, who made his season debut in the victory over Southampton prior to the Interlull, has developed a new issue.

This is what the manager said during the news conference held before the game.

Regarding Bukayo Saka…

He’s healing quite nicely and has accomplished a few things in the past two days, so it’s not a major injury. He was obviously too injured to play for the national team in the second match (against Finland). We have hope. He completed some training yesterday, so let’s see if he can make it in time for our training session this afternoon.

Regarding Martin Odegaard…

I don’t think he’s going to be ready for this game; perhaps next week. But once more, he needs to clear some marks and some things he needs to feel comfortable doing, especially with the ball, because he is currently doing a lot of stuff in that final stage of rehab. It will be important, I believe, to see how close he is by next week.

About Odegaard returning within the next seven games (before to the subsequent Interlull)…

Indeed. I hope so.

Regarding Kai Havertz…

We’ve been addressing the minor difficulties he had. He has been utterly outstanding. He understands the situation and communicates well with the management and the national team. Of course, we’ve done everything we possibly could here, but if he trains hard today, there’s still a chance he’ll be ready.

About Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jurrien Timber, and Ben White…

The three of them are really close. Since we are obviously having some trouble with the numbers, particularly on the right side, we will need to press [in training] and see who is available today. We’re hoping for some good news today and several guys returning for tomorrow.

Regarding Thomas Partey

Yes, Thomas is in good shape.

Regarding Gabriel Martinelli

He arrived here yesterday afternoon with Gabi. We haven’t had much time to spend with him. He went outside yesterday to get some exercise and check on his condition. Today will be another test to determine whether we want to take a chance on him being fit. I can already predict the player’s response: “Fit for sure.”

Regarding Tomiyasu…

Yes, we are unsure of [the duration]. Hopefully, it doesn’t appear to be a lengthy duration. We need to wait and watch how he responds to the load and the effect on the field when he returns. His work rate and hours put in to recover have been amazing, and we truly need him. It was him. He had something else again, and he was in excellent form. We are all behind him; perhaps, he will recover and not need our help.