Arsenal to retake team photo with William Saliba, Arteta says

Arsenal will take another official team photograph with William Saliba after the defender missed the picture published this week, Mikel Arteta has confirmed. The manager said Saliba was unavailable because of a medical appointment and was not responsible for the omission.

Arteta said the club had tried to arrange the photograph three times, but each attempt was cancelled at the last minute for different reasons. Arsenal went ahead with this latest session because of commercial commitments and people who had travelled to take the picture, he explained. The club will arrange another photograph with what Arteta called “the whole family”.

Asked whether Arsenal would retake it, Arteta replied “yes”. He said Saliba was “completely fine” about missing the picture and had been taking some banter from his team-mates. Arteta added that the defender knows how loved he is at the club.

The photograph drew attention because Saliba, 25, has yet to play this season while recovering from a back injury. He has made 184 appearances for Arsenal and resumed training on the grass earlier this month. Arteta said Saliba’s progress had been positive so far, but the club is waiting for another medical check before setting a clearer marker in his recovery.

Arsenal have an MRI scan planned for next week to assess how the healing process is going. “It will be good to have him,” Arteta said, without giving a return date. The scan is the next step in assessing the defender’s progress; it does not, by itself, provide a confirmed date for his return.

Arteta also discussed the squad ahead of Arsenal’s away match against Nottingham Forest on Sunday, 18 October. He said Martin Zubimendi was in contention after injuring himself during the warm-down following the Leeds game. Piero Hincapie was expected to be out for another one or two weeks, while winger Christos Tzolis had an MRI on Thursday after suffering a hamstring injury on international duty with Greece. Arteta said Tzolis was progressing well and hoped to have him back in a few weeks.

Arsenal go into the Forest game second in the Premier League, with 15 points from six matches: five wins and one defeat. Saliba’s scan will provide the next update on a recovery that has kept one of Arteta’s key players out of action so far this season.