Arsenal fans have been left astonished as Oleksandr Zinchenko was spotted in training on Friday, less than a day after reports had ruled him out for the rest of the season through injury.
The reliable David Ornstein previously reported that the Ukrainian would be sidelined for the remainder of the season after picking up a calf injury in the 2-0 win over Newcastle, being taken off on the hour mark and replaced with Kieran Tierney in the Gunners defence.
Arteta, however, disputed this, denying that it was confirmed, though he did suggest that William Saliba wouldn’t be fit for the final three games.
“We have another session tomorrow before the Brighton game, and we are trying to get players back for that”, he explained on Friday. “Today we haven’t trained on the pitch, so we’ll know more tomorrow.”
“With William, it’s for sure that he’s not going to be fit for this game and we are doubting whether he will be fit for the next game as well. But we want to keep the hope going and make sure that we give ourselves the best chance of having them back.”
Now, eagle eyed Arsenal fans have spotted the Ukrainian defender in first team training ahead of the home clash with Brighton, which is a must win game for Arsenal should they wish to hold onto their slim hope of winning a first Premier League title since 2004.
The return of Zinchenko against Roberto De Zerbi’s high flying Brighton side could be a massive boost in their hunt to get all three points at the Emirates on Sunday.
