Arsenal star suffers injury in Carabao Cup final and immediately withdraws from international duty

Arsenal and France have been dealt a major injury blow as William Saliba has been forced to withdraw from international duty.

Saliba played the full 90 minutes of the Gunners’ 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final.

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However, it has since emerged that the star centre-back picked up an left ankle injury as he pulled out of France’s upcoming fixtures against Brazil and Colombia.

France issues statement on Saliba injury

In a statement from the French Football Federation, Crystal Palace defender Maxence Lacroix was confirmed as Saliba’s replacement, marking the Eagles star’s first-ever senior national team call-up.

“The Arsenal centre-back is suffering from recurring pain in his left ankle, requiring treatment and a minimum rest period of ten days,” the statement added.

Saliba’s injury is unwelcome news for Gunners boss Mikel Arteta, who was without fleet-footed attacker Eberechi Eze for the Carabao Cup final.

Gunner be tough

Like Saliba, Eze’s injury has forced him to miss England’s matches against Japan and Uruguay, with Newcastle flyer Harvey Barnes named as his replacement.

Speaking after the Carabao Cup defeat, Arteta confirmed Eze had sustained a calf issue and that the summer signing would undergo another scan this week to determine the severity of the issue.

The loss of Eze and Saliba ahead of the final run home is a bitter blow for Arteta as they remain in the hunt for the treble.

Arsenal remain top of the Premier League with a nine-point buffer between them and second-placed City.

However, City have a game in hand, meaning the gap could be shrunk to six points with seven league games remaining.

The Gunners are on course for their first Premier League title since the famous ‘Invincibles’ campaign of 2003/04.

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Arteta’s side have come agonisingly close to ending the title drought in recent times having earned three consecutive second-place finishes in the last three seasons.

Arsenal are also still in the mix for the FA Cup and the Champions League, where they will face Southampton and Sporting in the quarter-finals of each competition respectively.

Arteta will want to have Saliba fit and firing for both fixtures, with the international break hopefully able to provide enough time for the French star to recover.

Saliba has already missed a handful of fixtures this season with an ankle problem, including a 1-0 win over Brighton and the 2-1 FA Cup victory over Mansfield Town in March.

Who could replace Saliba in doomsday scenario?

Should Saliba be ruled out for longer than expected, Cristhian Mosquera looms as his replacement.

The 21-year-old, who only joined last summer, has impressed when called upon for the Gunners.

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He has chalked up 25 appearances in all competitions for Arsenal this term, 14 of which have been starts.

The latest of those came in the 1-0 win over Brighton on March 4 when he stepped in for Saliba, helping Arsenal keep their 14th clean sheet of the league campaign.