A bad weekend got even worse for Arenal fans with the news from L’Équipe journalist Bruno Constant that Francis Coquelin is facing “most probably” at least 3 months on the sidelines after injuring his knee in the first-half against West Brom.
Coquelin went down in the loss to West Brom on a 50-50 challenge with Claudio Yacob, and manager Arsene Wenger said after the match
“it looks to be more severe with a knee problem.”
The midfielder reportedly left the Hawthornes on crutches after the loss and while we have not heard anything official from the Gunners, the number of rumours suggest a longer recovery period than a shorter one.
More than a few Arsenal fans wondered why the club did not sign a capable backup to Coquelin this summer, but Arsene Wenger decided to stick with the squad he had.
Unfortunately that move has now backfired as the Gunners head into a must win Champions League match against Dinamo Zagreb in midfield without Coquelin as well as fellow midfielders Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Mikel Arteta, and Tomas Rosicky. Add in David Ospina, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Danny Welbeck and the Gunners are in a full-fledged injury crisis. And its not even December!
The only remaining senior midfielder for Wenger to call on is Mathieu Flamini, an alarming thought for Arsenal fans considering the number of games Arsenal have between now and the New Year.
Normally you expect Coquelin’s injury to force Wenger to buy in the January transfer window, but the Arsenal manager is reluctant to buy players at the best of times, never mind when the value of players are inflated in January.
Do you think Wenger will buy a defensive midfielder in January, or will he hope to get by until some of his injured midfielders get fit?
