Ben White has handed Arsenal another major injury blow.
The Gunners defender has undergone surgery to correct a knee issue, which has been hampering him in recent months, and could now be out until the New Year.
White started both of Arsenal's last two matches - against Chelsea at the weekend and Inter Milan in the Champions League - but has missed a number of other games, and has had to be nursed through the first third of the season with what have been described as "joint" issues.
It is a huge blow to Mikel Arteta and his side's title hopes, with their recent run seeing them slip nine points behind league leaders Liverpool. Arteta had said that he was "praying" for an end to their injury issues after a "nightmare eight weeks" in the wake of Sunday's 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.
But now it's understood White is due to be out for eight weeks - although he is keen to play through the pain barrier and be back sooner.
White's loss comes with both Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice having pulled out of the England squad this week. Saka withdrew due to a muscle issue and midfielder Rice has a broken toe - he played with it at Chelsea - with both staying at their club to recover.
England were hit by eight dropouts for their Nations League double header with Greece and Republic of Ireland, much to the displeasure of Three Lions skipper Harry Kane.
Kane, who will captain England for their Nations League clash in Greece, told ITV: “I think England comes before anything. It comes before club and it is the most important thing you play as a professional footballer.
“Gareth was on hot on that and he wasn’t afraid and he wasn’t afraid to make decisions if that started to drift from certain players. It’s a shame this week obviously. Yeah, I think it’s a tough period of the season and maybe that’s been taken advantage of a little bit.
“I don’t really like it if I’m totally honest. I think as I just said there England comes before before anything, any club situation. The joy to play for England. I think Gareth brought that back. Every camp, people were excited to come, every camp people wanted to play for England and, yeah, that’s the most important thing.”
White hasn't played for England since leaving the 2022 World Cup camp in Qatar.
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