Mikel Arteta faces Arsenal injury crisis after Christos Tzolis blow

Mikel Arteta is facing an anxious wait after Arsenal winger Christos Tzolis suffered a hamstring injury while playing for Greece.

The 24-year-old pulled up during Greece’s 2-2 Nations League draw against the Netherlands on Thursday night.

Tzolis, who arrived from Club Brugge in the summer, had a goal disallowed before feeling tightness in his right thigh.

He was substituted in the 18th minute, replaced by Georgios Masouras, and looked visibly upset as he pulled his shirt over his head.

Despite wanting to play on, Greece head coach Ivan Jovanovic insisted on substituting him in Thessaloniki.

Speaking to reporters, Jovanovic said:

“I’m his coach, I tell him to go out and he says ‘I’m not going out’.”

The Greece boss added:

“I told him to get out, because I suspected that he wouldn’t have done that if he hadn’t felt something.”

An anxious wait for the Gunners

Initial assessments by the Greek medical team suggest Tzolis could face between 15 and 20 days on the sidelines.

This timeframe would rule him out for up to three weeks, meaning he would miss crucial fixtures.

The winger is set to fly back to London for comprehensive scans with the Arsenal medical staff.

Club officials are currently hesitant to set a definitive return date until they complete their own evaluations.

Similarly to how they handled Kai Havertz, the Gunners want to carry out their own tests despite dialogue with Greece.

If the recovery takes the full three weeks, Tzolis will miss games against Leeds United, Lille, Nottingham Forest, and Bayern Munich.

A quicker two-week recovery could give him an outside chance of facing Forest on 18 October.

This setback leaves Arsenal incredibly short of options on the left flank.

During the summer, the Premier League champions sanctioned the departures of both Leandro Trossard to Besiktas and Gabriel Martinelli to Al-Hilal.

Having failed to secure deals for Vinicius Junior or Morgan Rogers, the squad is now light in wide areas.

This situation places immense pressure on Eberechi Eze, who has endured a slow start to the campaign.

Eze, currently away with England, is the only fit natural alternative, though he usually operates as an attacking midfielder.

He was a second-half substitute on Tuesday as the Three Lions secured a 2-0 victory over Czechia in Prague.

Noni Madueke represents another makeshift option who can fill in on the left side if required.

Despite losing Tzolis early in the match, Greece managed to secure a 2-2 draw against the Netherlands.

The Greeks had established an early two-goal lead through Fotis Ioannidis before Virgil van Dijk and Tijani Reijnders rescued a point.

Greece remain top of their Nations League group after previous victories over Serbia and Germany.

Tzolis had been enjoying a productive break, scoring against Serbia and assisting the winner against Germany.

Reflecting on the result, Greece defender Kostas Tsimikas said:

“In the end, that point we earned may prove to be very valuable.”

Greece will face Jurgen Klopp’s Germany side again this Sunday, though Tzolis will play no part as he prepares to return to England.