Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that teenage attacking midfielder Ethan Nwaneri will be sidelined for a few weeks due to a muscular issue.
The 17-year-old was substituted at halftime during Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Brighton, despite scoring the opening goal of the match.
Nwaneri, an England Under-19 international, had made his first Premier League start just three days earlier in Arsenal’s 3-1 victory over Brentford.
“Unfortunately, he has picked up an injury and he is going to be out for a few weeks,” said Arteta on Monday.
Nwaneri has made his first-team breakthrough this season, with Saturday’s goal marking his fifth in 18 appearances.
His increased game time comes in the wake of Bukayo Saka’s hamstring injury, which is expected to sideline the influential England winger for “many weeks.”
On Nwaneri’s injury, Arteta added: “He didn’t really know, to be fair. He said, ‘I am feeling something but I don’t really know what it is’.
“He has earned the right to step up and play for us and now he has started some games – some big games – and impacted those games in the way he has done, in different positions too.
“I am gutted for him because the injury is going to stop that, but it is another step in that development phase that he is in. I am really happy with the way he is going.”
Raheem Sterling was also injured days before Saka, and Arteta said the on-loan Chelsea forward will be back “hopefully very soon”.
Arsenal won the 2019-20 FA Cup in Arteta’s first season in charge but have yet to win a major trophy since.
They host Newcastle in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final on Tuesday, before facing Manchester United at Emirates Stadium in the third round of the FA Cup on Sunday.
Arteta said winning a trophy this season would be “the icing on the cake” after his team’s progression into regular title challengers, and that Arsenal should “expect to win” a trophy every year.
“[Trophies] mean a lot to all of us,” he said.
“We work every single day to achieve that and bring joy to our people. These are memories that stick in your mind and hopefully we can create many more.”