Bukayo Saka got no further than the 10th minute at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night, pulling up on a routine pass and reaching straight for the top of his leg. Eberechi Eze was sent on in his place.
Mikel Arteta’s verdict afterwards was blunt.
“It doesn’t look good at all, but we have to wait and see,” the Arsenal manager told Sky Sports.
Arsenal still fought their way to a 2-2 draw in Germany, but the result ran a distant second to the sight of their most important attacker limping down the tunnel. Eze made the forced change look inspired, opening the scoring in the 25th minute from a Martin Ødegaard pass. Alphonso Davies levelled 10 minutes later, Harry Kane put Bayern Munich in front from the penalty spot on 61 minutes after a Jurrien Timber handball, and Declan Rice fired in Arsenal’s equaliser on 82.
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Scans in London will set the timeline
Saka, 25, was flown home ahead of the squad for scans on his thigh, with Arteta also sharing the medical team’s early reading.
“They are a bit concerned. A player who has to come off with a really sharp pain is never good news, but we have to wait and see,” he said, according to Yahoo Sports.
Saka was unchallenged when the pain hit, running onto nothing more than a short delivery outside the Bayern box.
Saka doubtful for Everton on Saturday
Arsenal host Everton at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday 24 October, and Saka’s involvement has been ruled out until the scans are read.
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Eze is the obvious short-term beneficiary on the right. He scored off the bench against Bayern and set up Rice for the leveller, having come on inside the opening quarter-hour.
Arteta signed a new Arsenal deal running until 2030 earlier this month. The next word on how long the winger will be out is expected once the London scans are read.
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