Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Alexis Sanchez has picked up an injury whilst training with his national side, however the extent of it is still unknown.
News broke out earlier this week that the 27-year-old had suffered a leg injury, originally believed to be a torn calf muscle sustained at the beginning of the international break.
The Chilean FA remained coy on the seriousness of the news and remained hopeful that he would be able to recover in time for their second game during the break against Uruguay on November 15th.
Many news outlets began to give their own diagnosis on how long the Gunners season top goalscorer would be sidelined for. Some taking into account matters such as physiotherapy or the Top Ankle Compression Sleeve for Fitness that could help speed up recovery. But as always Wenger has given us a better indication whilst talking to beIN Sports. His quotes have been transcribed in the following article:
I got a text last night that he has a hamstring injury. The team from Chile have travelled without him.
We have to get access to see how bad it is and make sure they don’t make a suicidal decision that could harm his future for months.
It’s a grey area between the national and club team but we have to preserve the health of Alexis. He always wants to play and that’s where it is a more sensitive case because he’s always ready to play even when injured.
Source – The Mirror
It’s certainly a reserved comment from the boss, and the signs don’t look good for having Alexis available for the Manchester United game in just over a weeks time.
We’ve seen it in so many cases before where players are rushed back from injury and sustain an even bigger setback, so it will come down to Wenger’s man-management to be harsh on the forward.
Chile have the chance to leapfrog both Colombia and Uruguay in the space of the next week as they challenge for a World Cup place in Russia against other South American heavyweights.
Losing their star man won’t be good news for them ahead of two of the hardest games they’re going to face in the whole process, so a gamble may come into play.
Arsenal will have to sweat over the next few days whilst waiting for the scans to come back, but if it is a hamstring injury that could be 4/6 weeks at the very minimum.
Wenger will have to turn to Olivier Giroud to lead the line when we travel to Old Trafford, with Lucas Perez and Danny Welbeck still sitting out with long-term injuries.
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