WILLIAM SALIBA has played with a back fracture for MONTHS and now looks set for surgery.
The star picked up an injury during a 2-1 loss to Bournemouth in April, reports say.
William Saliba has played with a back fracture since April Credit: EPA
The Arsenal and France defender is set for surgery on his injury Credit: EPA
And he has continue to go out on the pitch through the pain ever since – but it could cost him.
Frenchman Saliba, 25, .
which could rule him out of club action for nearly a year.
, Saliba told L’Equipe: “I’ve had some minor niggles for several months.
“I’ve been gritting my teeth because there was the and the Premier League.
“But the coaching staff are handling it very well.
“The World Cup comes around only once every four years, so you’ve got to grit your teeth.
“I’m not at 100 per cent, but there are plenty of players who aren’t at 100 per cent either.
“You can’t make excuses.”
Saliba added: “My back gave out.”
RMC Sport claim that he has been taking daily painkillers to get through the problem in America.
He received daily treatment from the medical team but wasn’t able to train with his team-mates all the time.
Despite this, Saliba remained at the heart of ‘ backline.
He played the full game in all but one match leading up to the semi – and that was against a rotated , who France beat 4-1 in the group stage.
That came off the back of another gruelling season under – where he started 30 Prem fixtures for the third successive year.
Saliba made 50 appearances for the Gunners in total, racking up over 4,200 minutes.
Including France matches before the World Cup, and he was up to 54 games and nearly 4,500 minutes.
Now it is over to Arteta to deal with as Saliba tries to recover.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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