Arsenal suffered a major blow on Monday after Mikel Arteta confirmed winger Bukayo Saka has been ruled out with “many weeks” with a hamstring injury.
Saka picked up the injury during the first half of the 5-1 victory against Crystal Palace on Saturday, signaling to the bench after a cross before being replaced by Leandro Trossard.
Arsenal take on Ipswich Town on Friday amid a busy set of Christmas fixtures.
“It’s not looking good,” Arteta said. “He’s going to be out for many weeks.”
Asked if he feared Saka would miss the rest of the season, Arteta replied: “No. I’m very optimistic he’ll be back before the end of the season.”
Arteta signalled that Arsenal would look internally to replace Saka.
“It could have been much worse,” he added. “It could have been something else that can take you out for a year.
“It’s how you react to that, how you overcome that situation and it’s a great learning process for him as well.
“It is what it is. He’s injured, we cannot change it. We’re going to use this time now to help him.
