Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal got lucky with Granit Xhaka’s three-month absence.

Mikel Arteta, Arsenal’s manager, has provided an update on midfielder Granit Xhaka, claiming that the injury might have been much worse.

During the north London derby triumph over Tottenham, Xhaka sustained severe damage to his medial knee ligament.

After signing a new deal during the summer, the Swiss international had had a rough start to the new season.

Jose Mourinho attempted to bring him to Roma at the conclusion of last season, and he was generally anticipated to depart the Emirates.

Arsenal was able to retain his services in the end, but he immediately earned the fury of supporters after being sent off during Manchester City’s 5-0 thumping.

Xhaka was then suspended for three games, returning only after Sunday’s 3-1 triumph against Spurs.

The 29-year-old, though, now appears to be out for the rest of 2021 after his injury prognosis was disclosed.

Arteta said in his pre-match press conference that the player may have gotten lucky and avoided a more serious injury.

First and foremost, it’s a big injury, but he probably avoided much worse damage on the action, since that action on a cruciate ligament is a dangerous one,” Arteta stated.

So there you have it. His mindset is unrivalled. Now he understands what he has to do. Hopefully, he will be able to avoid surgery as well, which is really essential.

“And so, because time flies, simply start preparing oneself in the best possible way.”

“He’s a huge, huge loss.” We’ll be without him for a while. We’ll attempt to keep him as close to the squad as possible.

“In other areas, he will grow and progress. He’s never had a serious injury before.

“We’re here to assist him, and I’m certain that we’ll find a way to work around it in the squad because we have some really excellent players who can handle it.”

Ainsley Maitland-Niles may be the guy to replace Xhaka, according to Arteta. “Ainsley is certainly one of the alternatives and we have played him quite a bit at the start of the season and he’s doing very well and I’m delighted with what I’ve seen from him,” Arteta said.

The Gunners have won four of their last five games in all competitions after losing their opening three Premier League games of the season.

Arsenal takes on Brighton this weekend, and Arteta has stated that he hopes their season’s ups and downs are behind them.

“This is what we want to prevent, we don’t want that,” he continued. We want to be constant and stable in our performance so that we can achieve our goals.

“We all know how tough this league is and how anyone can beat you, so as I previously stated, you have to be on your toes because any detail may shift the momentum.”