Gabriel Magalhaes was forced off with a hamstring injury in Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Fulham and Gunners legend Ian Wright is concerned the defender’s season may be over
Arsenal legend Ian Wright fears Gabriel Magalhaes could be out for the rest of the season after picking up a hamstring injury in the win over Fulham. Gabriel was forced off after just 16 minutes, with Jakub Kiwior coming on to replace him.
Arsenal did go on to win 2-1 thanks to goals from Mikel Merino and a returning Bukayo Saka, while Rodrigo Muniz netted a late consolation for Fulham. However, the loss of Gabriel is huge ahead of Arsenal’s upcoming Champions League quarter-final clash with Real Madrid.
And Wright believes Gabriel’s absence will be a “major blow” for Arsenal, with the 61-year-old suggesting his season may now be over. “It is very concerning because for me, the way he’s pulled up, that’s not two weeks,” Wright told Premier League Productions.
“That’s like six weeks at least, could be out for the season, depending what happens with Arsenal. But that’s a massive blow for us, with him and without him there’s a massive difference. He is someone that is vital to what Arsenal are doing.”
Fellow pundit Karen Carney added: “I think when you’re chasing [Adama] Traore in the first 15 minutes, I think that’s when he started to really stretch himself. You saw him pull up straight away.
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“It’s worrying because of how many injuries Arsenal have to hamstrings, and it’s even more worrying because in seven days’ time they’re going to be playing Real Madrid and you need this guy in your team, so it is a bit concerning.
“Consistency, the pairing of the centre-backs, his physicality, his mentality, his standards, in every good team you need to have two solid, consistent centre-backs. It would be a huge blow if it was a long-term thing.”
Gabriel was not the only Arsenal defender who picked up an injury against Fulham, with Jurrien Timber forced off in the second-half with a knee issue. Gunners boss Mikel Arteta offered an update on the pair in his post-match press conference, stating: “We don’t know how they’re going to be.
“We’ll be assessing them tomorrow and understand better how we are with those two. They are two players in this team that never want to come off. Gabi felt something in his hamstring, we don’t know how big that is and with Jurrien as well, he was already struggling very early in the game.
“He managed to continue and at some point he couldn’t, so, that’s the downside to it. The good thing is that it’s been like this the whole season. You see Martinelli today, you say we’re missing three months. You see Bukayo, four months. Jesus, almost the whole season.
“How we have managed to be where we are with all those injuries. Ben White hasn’t participated at all this season, it’s what it is. We want it so much that we’re going to give it a real go and we are very excited for next week. You can imagine, we’ve lost four players in the defensive line in one week – Calafiori, Ben White, Jurrien and Gabi Magalhaes. We have still another four, that are so willing that they will do their job.”
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