Update on Mkhitaryan’s injury

Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Arsenal winger, suffered a knee injury while playing against CSKA Moscow on April 5. He missed a match with Southampton on April 8 and was set to rest for the semi-finals of the Europa League. Here are the latest updates about Mkhitaryan’s injury.

To begin with, the Armenia international suffered the medial knee ligament injury after 61 minutes of Arsenal’s first leg with CSKA Moscow. Alex Iwobi was his substitution and Arsenal won 4-1 in that match. Yet, the bad news for the Gunners was that their midfielder could miss the rest of the season, including Europa League semi-finals, and potentially, the finals. Arsene Wenger delivered the bad news only a day after the injury. He said that the tear like that would need several months of rehabilitation and that the first impression wasn’t positive. Wenger said it could be several weeks before Mkhitaryan returns to the field. In his absence, Wenger will have to shuffle his deck of players and find out the winning combination for both the Premier League and the Europa League. Danny Welbeck and Iwobi are the first two players on the list to replace Mkhitaryan.

The Gunners are already without Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, because he had already played for Borussia Dortmund in this European competition. The loss of Mkhitaryan limits Wenger’s attacking options, yet the Gunners’ coach is still optimistic about Mkhitaryan’s injury. In the latest Wenger’s announcement, he said that Mkhitaryan could be ready for the first leg of the semi-finals in the Europa League with Atletico Madrid. Wenger said that the midfielder is on the road to recovery and that he could be back as soon as the semi-finals start, thus becoming a major boost for the team. Since Mkhitaryan is able to run again, Wenger expects him to make a huge progress by the semi-finals.

Wenger said that even if Mkhitaryan sat on the bench the entire time, it would be a huge deal for the Arsenal team. An injury that was first described as having detrimental consequences turned out to be not so big of a deal, according to Arsene Wenger. Where there’s will, there’s a way, and we all know how passionate Henrikh Mkhitaryan is about football.

It would be surprising if Mkhitaryan was able to come back to the team’s starting line as early as this Thursday, April 26. The injury seemed long-lasting, yet the entire Gunners’ team lead by Arsene Wenger hopes for the best. Mkhitaryan’s availability would be crucial for Arsenal, as it would have given them the much-needed confidence in the match with Atletico Madrid. Even if Mkhitaryan could only play for a couple of minutes, he could still be the game-changer Arsenal requires. Since Mkhitaryan swapped clubs with Alexis Sanchez in January, he scored five goals and two assists – the fact that says how important he is for the Gunners. Wishing him a quick recovery and an easy comeback to the big scene, and hoping to see him during the semi-finals this April 26.