Uh Oh (UPDATE: Broken Leg, 2 to 3 months)

By: Martin | July 21st, 2009

Just saw this on the wire. Can’t 100% vouch for its legitimacy, but here it is:

French publications L’Equipe and France Football are reporting that Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri has been taken to hospital in Austria following an injury sustained while training on the Gunners’ pre-season tour of the country.

The 22-year-old was transported by two members of staff, reportedly crying in pain, to the regional hospital in Hartberg. The nature of his injury is yet to be determined.

Uh Oh. Could be something, could be nothing. But generally speaking, it has to be pretty serious for a player to get taken to the hospital, given that the Arsenal training staff is right there on the scene to deal with typical football injuries. And crying out in pain doesn’t exactly sound great, either.

UPDATE: Official site confirms rumor. Nasri will miss two to three months, which will put him back in action sometime in September or October. And a broken leg is one of those things that pretty much completely keeps you out of action, so you’d have to assume it will take him several weeks to get match fit after that.

At least it wasn’t a defender…if Rosicky stays healthy and plays well, this will hurt less.

I would point out that this another incident in a long line of Nasri injuries, but: (a) last time I noted that, several commenters accused me of being racist; and (b) more importantly, this isn’t the kind of niggly little injury that keeps you out for a week or two, it’s a broken leg, which would have happened to absolutely anyone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It just sucks all the way around–Nasri’s a really likeable player who’s got a lot of skill and moxie and goes all out for the team. He really was one of the few bright spots for the squad last season. Here’s hoping he makes a safe and speedy recovery to action.

In the near term, this definitely narrows Wenger’s options on the left wing. With Nasri now out, and Rosicky the ultimate question mark, it seems like we’ll be seeing Arshavin start the season on the left. Vela and van Persie saw some action on the left season, but it was pretty clear to me and everyone else that they weren’t entirely comfortable there. Diaby also played on the left once or twice, but he shouldn’t be considered a viable option because he’s very, very bad at playing football.

Well, what can you say? It’s a few days after our first friendly, and we Arsenal fans are already having our hopes dashed by injuries–football season really is here again…