Arsenal’s “best player” ruled out till after next month’s Man Utd trip

Arsenal have confirmed striker Alexandre Lacazette has been ruled out until October with an ankle injury.

The French forward has already scored two goals in three appearances at the start of the new Premier League season and his form has been so impressive that on-loan midfielder Dani Ceballos recently described him as Arsenal’s “best player”.

How many games will Lacazette miss? Five things to know…

• Lacazette has provided more Premier League assists (8) than any other Arsenal player since the start of last season.
• He has already scored two goals in three games this season.
• But the Frenchman has now been ruled out until October, missing five games.
• He will sit out clashes with Watford, Eintracht Frankfurt, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United.
• Ceballos recently described Lacazette as Arsenal’s “best player”.

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“Lacazette, for me, is the best player,” the Spaniard said. “He understands the game perfectly and, if he’s 100%, he’s going to give us so much.”

But the Gunners will now have to cope without the 28-year-old for fixtures against Watford, Eintracht Frankfurt, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and, perhaps crucially, Manchester United.

Arsenal’s club statement said: “After assessments to an ongoing ankle issue, we have advised that Alex will need to rest and strengthen his ankle to regain full fitness.

“Alex has been playing through this injury for several weeks. He is likely to be back in action in October.”

Unai Emery’s side travel to Vicarage Road to face Watford on Sunday having taken seven points from four games so far in the new Premier League season, lifting them to fifth in the table.

Emery gives fitness update on Tierney and Bellerin

Despite suffering the loss of Lacazette, Emery was able to give Arsenal fans good news with a positive fitness update on full-back duo, Kieran Tierney and Hector Bellerin.

Tierney signed for the north Londoners in the summer transfer window but has been unable to make his debut due to a groin injury sustained before his arrival, while Bellerin has been sidelined since January with a knee injury.

Although he wasn’t able to put an exact timescale on either player’s return to fitness, Emery did reveal that both had returned to training and could soon play a part for Arsenal’s U23 side.

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“We need to look at the next steps in each training and also if we decide to play with U23s,” Emery said of the defenders. “They did this week the first time training normally with us.

“We want the next week to take the normality training with us. After that week we can decide.”