Arsenal's Injury Woes Deepen as Brazilian Star Set for MRI Scan

Arsenal continues to struggle with injuries as Brazilian star Gabriel Martinelli undergoes an MRI scan. The injury nightmare at the club shows no sign of ending.

The Gunners are back in Premier League action on Saturday with a trip to the south coast to face AFC Bournemouth following the international break.

Mikel Arteta may be without a number of his top stars for that clash with Buyako Saka picking up a hamstring issue while playing for England.

Kai Havertz, meanwhile, pulled out of the Germany squad with a knee injury and Martin Odegaard is ruled out until November.

There are also still question marks over Ben White, Jurrien Timber and Oleksandr Zinchenko ahead of the match against the Cherries.

To make matters worse, Martinelli has now complained about pain in his right calf and is set to miss Brazil’s clash against Peru.

The 23-year-old winger came off the bench in Brazil’s 2-1 victory over Chile on Friday.

But he won’t play against Peru after being sent for a scan, with Brazil’s medical team set to continue monitoring the problem over the coming days.

Martinelli has endured a sluggish start to the season for Arsenal but football pundit and former player Darren Bent is backing him to turn his form around.

‘That’s the biggest thing – confidence – in any football,’ Bent said on talkSPORT. ‘It doesn’t matter where you play, what level you play, if you haven’t got the confidence, then your performances are going to drop.

‘And when he hit 15 [goals in 2022/23], he was magnificent. But can you back it up again? Because to go two seasons with those amount of goals and those amount of assists is difficult to do.

‘He is working his way back, but you can see the confidence now slowly starting to come back. I believe by Christmas time, he will be absolutely flying.

‘His confidence will be flying, the numbers will be there, and it will be the Martinelli of old.’