Arteta could repair Gabriel’s injury by releasing Arsenal’s £45m ‘beast’

All Arsenal supporters prayed for no accidents this worldwide break, however their prayers actually went unanswered.

On Saturday, at his residence, the Emirates Stadium, Gabriel hobbled out about an hour into Brazil’s 2-0 pleasant win over Senegal in north London.

He reportedly has an adductor damage, the severity of which remains to be unknown, however his absence can be a giant blow.

To make issues worse, Riccardo Calafioli returned early from the Italian camp and missed the Azzurri’ recreation in opposition to Moldova in Chisinau on Thursday evening.

Head coach Gennaro Gattuso mentioned: “We tried to make him obtainable, however we will not pressure him now,” which can be a fear for Mikel Arteta given the 23-year-old’s damage historical past.

Each gamers have began all 11 Premier League video games up to now, so ignoring the Gunners’ subsequent three video games in opposition to Tottenham (H), Bayern Munich (H) and Chelsea (A) may very well be a giant drawback.

Nonetheless, Arteta already boasts an excellent deputy.

Numbers that affirm Arsenal’s defensive solidity

Till final weekend’s 2-2 draw with Sunderland, Arsenal had saved eight consecutive clear sheets, equaling the membership document set in 1903.

The statistics affirm how dominant Arteta’s facet have been defensively up to now this season.

Because the desk reveals, Arsenal are ranked first in each defensive metric within the Premier League this season.

Regardless of a document seven clear sheets with simply 21 pictures heading in the right direction, some have jokingly urged that David Raya might require him to do business from home, even when the Spaniard made some distinctive saves to be truthful.

Nonetheless, Gabriel and Calafioli have been key contributors to this consistency, and whereas supporters could also be questioning how Arteta’s facet will fare of their absence, have they got any instant high quality gamers ready to take their place?

How can Arsenal clear up the damage disaster of their protection?

After final season was fully derailed by accidents, Arsenal made an enormous recruitment spree in the summertime to keep away from an identical state of affairs and sense of déjà vu.

By way of defenders, Cristian Mosquera arrived from Valencia for £13 million, and the Spaniard has carried out brilliantly in each look, with the Guardian’s Sid Lowe mentioning that everybody in north London agrees he’s an absolute ‘discount’.

In contrast, probably the most high-profile summer season signing was the arrival of Pierro Hincapie, who joined on mortgage from Bayer Leverkusen on deadline day, however with a buyout obligation at a no small expense of £45m, might their Gabriel-Saliba hybrid be about to step into the highlight after a couple of weeks on the sidelines?

Following his arrival, Arteta mentioned the 23-year-old has a “actual bodily presence” and praised his “versatility and tactical flexibility”, thereby strengthening his group’s “defensive choices”, which is actually applicable for the second.

In the meantime, U23 scout Antonio Mango described him as an “absolute beast”, whereas his agent went even additional, calling him a “warrior” and “chief”. It is easy to see why he’s in comparison with the membership’s two main centre-halves.

Throughout his 4 seasons at Bayer Leverkusen, Hincapie made 166 appearances for Die Werkself and was a key determine in Xabi Alonso’s facet, who achieved the Bundesliga title and an unbeaten DFB Pokal title in 2023/24, reaching the membership’s first ever Masterschalet.

He was additionally a stable member of the protection at worldwide stage, beginning 14 of Ecuador’s 18 World Cup qualifying video games, as Sebastian Beccasese’s facet tied a South American document by conceding simply 5 targets in all competitions.

As outlined by Arceblog’s Phil Costa, Hincapie’s biggest energy is his means to play not solely as a dependable centre-back but additionally as an attacking left wing-back, and he has excelled in each roles underneath supervisor Alonso, labeling him as “aggressive” and “an unashamed South American” and highlighting his “sturdy tempo of restoration”.

Nicely, provided that Calafioli and Gabriel are each closely doubted to characteristic in Sunday’s North London derby, Hincapie is more likely to begin at left-back or left-sided centre-back.

Different choices are Miles Lewis-Skelly and the aforementioned Mosquera, however whereas Arteta is unlikely to usher in such a younger duo, he has proven a desire for left-footed centre-backs Pablo Mari and Jakub Kivioglu, amongst different examples, suggesting the Ecuadorian will take up a midfield place alongside William Saliba.

Throughout Arsenal’s latest win over Slavia Prague, the 1,000 or so Gooners who visited the Czech capital spent a lot of the afternoon and night singing Hinkapie’s new songs.

One line contains the lyric “Arsenal can be thrilled to see you play”, which isn’t any totally different contemplating he’s set to play a key function in an vital upcoming match.