Mikel Arteta Unsure of Severity of Lucas Torreira's Injury After Portsmouth Win

​Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has admitted that he does not yet know the severity of the injury Lucas Torreira suffered in Monday's victory over Portsmouth.

The Uruguay international managed just 16 minutes of the game before going down after a heavy challenge from James Bolton, and he looked to be in real pain as he left the field on a stretcher.

Lucas Torreira

Second-half goals from Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Eddie Nketiah helped lighten the mood slightly, but Arteta admitted (via the club's ​official website) that he was concerned about Torreira's injury.

"He was in a lot of pain," said Arteta. "He is in a brace at the moment, he will be assessed in the next few days and we will know more then. I don’t know if it’s the bone or ligaments, we don’t know yet."


It probably goes without saying that Torreira will miss Saturday's meeting with ​West Ham, but the scariest thing is that Arsenal might have to rely on the defensive 'powers' of Granit Xhaka once more. Yikes.

He was spotted leaving the ground on crutches later in the evening, but Torreira's father has since told ​ESPN that the injury is not as bad as it may look. Torreira is said to have told his father: “I wanted to tap the ball and he caught my ankle on the outside. I twisted it, but I can move it. I'm fine.”

Mikel Arteta

The injury was obviously a low point of the game, but if you want something to laugh about, go watch Mattéo Guendouzi get booked for flamboyantly putting the ball down to take a free kick. The fun never stops.


Torreira and Guendouzi were two of nine changes to ​Arsenal's starting lineup, with Arteta opting to field a number of younger players against the League One side. It's a risk which certainly paid off, so now his stars should be well-rested for Saturday.


For more from Tom Gott, follow him on Twitter!


Source : 90min