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Mikel Arteta provides injury update on Ben White & Riccardo Calafiori

By on May 10, 2026

Ben White

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta confirmed that Ben White’s injury ‘doesn’t look good’ after he was withdrawn in the first half against West Ham United.

White picked up a knee problem after awkwardly jarring his leg during a challenge. The right-back was clearly in discomfort following the incident and eventually unable to continue.

Rather than introducing natural defenders such as Cristhian Mosquera or Piero Hincapié, Arteta opted to send on Martin Zubimendi, with Declan Rice initially dropping into the right-back role while Myles Lewis-Skelly remained in midfield.

At half-time, Arteta made another tactical adjustment to restore balance to the side, introducing Mosquera for Riccardo Calafiori, allowing the Spaniard to slot in at right-back for the second half.

The Gunners eventually secured a 1-0 victory thanks to a late effort from Leandro Trossard after fine work from Martin Odegaard.

After the match, White was spotted leaving the London Stadium wearing a brace on his right knee, while Arteta admitted during his post-match press conference that the injury appears to be a worrying one.

He said: ‘We don’t know, but it doesn’t look good at all.’

‘He needs some further testing tomorrow, probably, and then we will know.’

The manager also confirmed that Calafiori’s half-time substitution for Mosquera was injury-related.

The Italian defender had been making his third consecutive start after spending large parts of the campaign sidelined through fitness problems.

‘We had to make another change with Richy,’ Arteta said.

Blow

Asked to confirm whether he suffered an injury, he added: We’ll have to wait and see with both of them what it is, but unfortunately, yes.’ 

There is still no clarity on the severity of the problem, which will naturally raise concerns given Calafiori’s injury history.

Arsenal moved a major step closer to the Premier League crown after edging past West Ham United 1-0 in dramatic fashion, with the hosts seeing a potential 95th-minute equaliser ruled out.

The Hammers had defended stubbornly for most of the contest before the breakthrough finally arrived in the 83rd minute, when Leandro Trossard fired through a crowded penalty area and beyond Mads Hermansen following impressive work from Martin Ødegaard.

The victory restored Arsenal’s advantage at the top of the table to five points, leaving them only two wins away from securing their first league title since the 2003–04 campaign.