Arsenal summer signing picks up injury pre-Spurs clash | OneFootball

Arsenal summer signing Kepa Arrizabalaga has picked up an injury, missing out on the friendly match against Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday.

Photo via Arsenal.com

Arsenal’s squad to face Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday was missing a few first-team players, with Gabriel Magalhaes still absent through injury and Riccardo Calafiori missing out with the minor setback he picked up in the previous friendly against Newcastle United.

Jurrien Timber has recently returned to first-team training, but the match also came too soon for him to be involved.

Yet one unexpected absentee was Kepa Arrizabalaga, who had featured in both of Arsenal’s previous friendly matches in Singapore.

Photo via Arsenal.com

The goalkeeper was also involved in Arsenal’s open training session in Hong Kong, but Tom Canton reports that he picked up an injury during the session.

Though details on the injury are scarce at the moment, one positive sign was that Kepa was seen arriving for the match with the squad without any obvious strapping or protective gear.

With any luck, Kepa, Timber, and Calafiori are all simply victims of an abundance of caution, and Arsenal are just unwilling to take any risks for a pre-season fixture.

Photo via Gabriel on Instagram

As for Gabriel, Mikel Arteta suggested last Friday that the defender would hopefully be able to train and play again “in the next week or so”. With this fixture coming less than a week after those comments, it’s no surprise he’s not quite ready yet.