Arsenal’s Ben White Sidelined for Months Following Knee Surgery

Arsenal defender Ben White will be unavailable for “months” after undergoing knee surgery, as confirmed by manager Mikel Arteta. White has participated in 12 matches across all competitions for Arsenal this season. Arteta stated that the 27-year-old White had been dealing with various injuries, leading to the decision during the international break for him to undergo an operation. “It has been different kinds of struggles. It has never been the same thing, but we had to make a decision. He has not improved over the last few weeks, unfortunately,” Arteta commented. His team is scheduled to play Nottingham Forest on Saturday. The Arsenal manager further explained, “We know that Ben is going to push every boundary, but it got to the point where we have to protect the player and we decided to do the surgery. He agreed with that and it is going to keep him out for a few months.” When questioned about a precise recovery period, Arteta responded, “We have to see how he reacts post-surgery. I don’t expect it to be half a year, but I cannot tell you exactly.” In other team news, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka are expected to be available for Arsenal. Both players have recovered from knocks sustained during the draw against Chelsea, which had resulted in their withdrawal from the England squad. Defender Riccardo Calafiori is also a potential inclusion for Saturday’s match, having returned after a month-long absence due to a knee issue. However, Takehiro Tomiyasu remains sidelined.