Mikel Arteta opens up on 'massive fight' with Gabriel over hamstring injury that has seen Arsenal star ruled out for rest of the season

The Brazilian centre-back was substituted early during Arsenal’s midweek victory over Fulham, and subsequent scans on his hamstring confirmed that surgery would be required, drawing the curtain on his campaign prematurely. The defender becomes the third key player to undergo surgery in recent months, alongside Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz.

Arteta offered a rare glimpse of the behind-the-scenes struggle that preceded Gabriel's season-ending hamstring injury, revealing that the player insisted on returning to action despite the concerns of medical staff. In the end, the Arsenal boss admitted it became a constant negotiation between caution and the player’s desire to contribute.

Speaking about player welfare, Arteta told reporters: “We have those discussions. I don’t know how we’re going to do it. For example, we had a situation with Gabi. During the West Ham game, he felt something in his hamstring. We played three days later, six days later, and nine days later. Three days later, he said he was ready to play with a grade one. He said, ‘I’m not feeling anything. I want to play’.

“It was massive fight not to play him. Day six, ‘This one definitely I have to play.’ Everybody’s like, ‘There is still a chance of a risk to play’. We decided after a big fight, don’t play. Day nine, another game.

‘This one for sure’ [says Gabriel]. The docs say there is a slight risk. He can miss five, six, seven weeks if he has an injury after that. We said not to play. On day 12, he played. But I was very tempted on day six to play him.”

Arteta revealed how hard it is to say no when a committed player insists they’re ready.

“If I would have played him day six, and he has the injury that he sustained now against Fulham, and he misses four weeks, four months, I would be hammered," he said.

“So sometimes you protect the player for this to happen, and when the player is totally protected, then this happens as well. There is an element, guys, that we cannot control. You want to play them because the player is coming to your office. ‘I want to play, I want to play, I want to play. I’m ready. I know my body. Don’t listen to the scan!’, you know.

“So we try to do our best. The medical staff, I suffer for them as well for everything that they do because I know that they feel very responsible for that. But it is difficult to put just something into something when there is a lot of thought about how we make decisions.”

Gabriel’s absence now forces Arsenal into another defensive reshuffle ahead of their upcoming domestic and European tests. Jakub Kiwior is one possibility to line up alongside William Saliba at centre-back, while Ben White, who has mainly featured as a right-back, could be pushed into the central role if needed. Meanwhile, Riccardo Calafiori, a natural left-footed option who might have been an ideal replacement, remains out of contention due to a knee injury sustained during the international break.