Bukayo Saka Injury: Progress, Potential Return Date for Arsenal Star

Bukayo Saka was forced off in the first half with a left hamstring injury after a sprint and pass. He looked visibly frustrated, and the mechanism suggested more of a strain than simple tightness.

 

Expected Recovery Times:

Grade 1: 2-4 weeks

Grade 2: 4-6 weeks

Grade 3: 8-12 weeks++

 

Based on the incident, it’s more likely to be a grade 1 or 2 strain, which would put his time out between 2–6 weeks, pending scan results.

 

Importantly, this isn’t the same hamstring that required surgery last year, which offers some reassurance.

 

As always, the exact diagnosis and timeline after a hamstring injury can only be confirmed after scans.

 

Please stay tuned for further updates.

 

Arsenal have already suffered an alarming number of injuries at the beginning of the 2025–26 Premier League season

 

Bukayo Saka missed Arsenal’s trip to Anfield last time out. / Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images

 

Injuries have been a prevailing theme of the last few seasons for Arsenal and they already find themselves without key personnel at the beginning of the new term.

 

Kai Havertz, William Saliba, Ben White, Christian Nørgaard and Bukayo Saka have suffered fitness setbacks in the opening weeks of the campaign, with the latter a particularly prominent absentee in Arsenal’s forward line.

 

The Gunners drew a blank without Saka in their recent defeat to title rivals Liverpool at Anfield and Mikel Arteta will be desperate to welcome the influential winger back from the treatment room as soon as possible.

 

Here’s the latest injury news regarding Saka.

 

When Will Bukayo Saka Return From Injury?

 



 

Saka was injured in Arsenal’s second outing of the season. / Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

 

Saka suffered his latest hamstring injury in Arsenal’s 5–0 win over Leeds United in their second match of the Premier League season and Arteta has confirmed that he’s staring at several weeks on the sidelines at the very least.

 

Speaking before the Liverpool defeat, the Spaniard said: “Bukayo is doing better, but he will be out for a few weeks, unfortunately.

 

“No surgery, it’s not as bad as the previous one. Very unfortunate to pick it up because it’s on the other side. It’s an action that requires full power from him. Then, he clashed with the opponent; he needed to change pace again, and he felt something. So he will be out for a couple of weeks.”

 

Saka struggled with hamstring issues last season, picking up his first in October 2024 when on international duty with England. He proceeded to miss two weeks of action but would suffer a far more severe setback in December.

 

The 23-year-old required surgery for a hamstring tear sustained against Crystal Palace just before Christmas, and he didn’t make his first-team return until the beginning of April. Luckily, as Arteta mentioned, no surgery is needed to remedy his current issue.

 

Potential Bukayo Saka Replacements for Arsenal

 



 

Noni Madueke is the obvious candidate to replace Saka. / IMAGO/News Images

 

Arsenal have often struggled to replace the creativity and goalscoring output of Saka when the wide man has been injured, but the summer addition of Noni Madueke from Chelsea should help ease the burden this time around. The England international started on the right wing at Anfield last time out and was Arteta’s most lively creative force.

 

Madueke also started the game against Leeds, although he largely played on the other flank, and has seemingly already won the trust of Arteta.

 

The Arsenal manager does have other options, though. Ethan Nwaneri often covered for Saka during his spell in the treatment room last season and Leandro Trossard also has the versatility required to fill the role in the short-term.

 

15-year-old Max Dowman has caught the eye during pre-season and the opening weeks of the Premier League campaign and could continue to earn minutes on the right wing.

 

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Man Utd’s Biggest Transfer Losses of All Time

 

The Red Devils have lost a lot of money on unfulfilled signings within the last 10 years

 

Manchester United have bought their fair share of flops. / Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images

 

Manchester United have been regarded as a club that can seemingly do no right in a post-Sir Alex Ferguson landscape.

 

The Red Devils were once England’s dynastical force, who would always be competing for and winning the biggest trophies with Fergie at the helm. That was the case for more than 25 years, so it’s no wonder that rival supporters have revelled in the tumultuous aftermath of his retirement.

 

Managers, ranging from elites of a bygone era to former players, have come and gone, with each boasting Old Trafford legacies that look improved with each subsequent baton pass. Those in the United dugout have often had the luxury of spending whatever they pleased to be the man to help the club escape the doldrums of increasing mediocrity.

 

However, the bulk of United’s lucrative purchases have proven to be, well…duds. And, as a result, the club have lost a lot of money when it eventually came around to parting ways. Here are the 10 biggest transfer losses in Manchester United’s history.

 

10. Eric Bailly (£30 million)

 

Bailly struggled with injuries in Manchester. / Gareth Copley/Getty Images

 

The list kicks off with a mere £30 million hit on Eric Bailly.

 

Signed from Villarreal full of potential in 2016, it initially appeared as if United had done a pretty good job at bolstering their backline during José Mourinho’s first season in charge.

 

A gangly and athletic centre-back, Bailly was a regular during his debut campaign, appearing 11 times during the club’s eventual Europa League success.

 

However, injuries took their toll on Bailly in Manchester, and he never appeared more than 13 times in a single Premier League season after 2016–17. The Ivorian joined Marseille on loan for the 2022–23 campaign before leaving for Beşiktaş as a free agent in 2023.

 

9. Donny van de Beek (£32.4 million)

 

 

Not even Erik ten Hag could salvage Van de Beek’s United career. / Robbie Jay Barratt-AMA/Getty Images

 

Erik ten Hag’s scintillating Ajax outfit that were a miraculous Lucas Moura hat-trick away from the Champions League final in 2019 have proven to be somewhat of a fugazi.

 

The supposed brains behind the operation, Ten Hag, has seen his stock take hit after hit since leaving Amsterdam, while those responsible for the magic on the pitch have generally struggled to shine elsewhere too.

 

Among them is Donny van de Beek, whose signing for United was met with widespread acclaim in 2020. However, the masterful space interpreter in that excellent Ajax team never took to the English game and failed to improve upon a quiet debut season. Not even the arrival of Ten Hag, who coaxed the best out of him in the Dutch capital, could save Van de Beek’s Old Trafford. He joined Girona for a small fee in 2024.

 

8. Aaron Wan-Bissaka (£35 million)

 

 

Wan-Bissaka was always an awkward fit. / Chloe Knott-Danehouse/Getty Images

 

Aaron Wan-Bissaka spent five years at Old Trafford and racked up 130 Premier League appearances in United colours.

 

Some would look at this as £50 million well spent (if you include the £5 million in add-ons), but Wan-Bissaka’s time with the Red Devils was defined by outstanding isolated displays as opposed to sustained runs of form.

 

Wan-Bissaka’s outstanding one-on-one abilities meant he was capable of locking up the division’s best wingers on any given weekend, but the right back so often manifested the air of a footballer who rarely wanted the ball to arrive at his feet, while his back post positional sense could also be poor.

 

He certainly had his moments, but this was an awkward fit, on the whole.

 

7. Juan Mata (£37.1 million)

 

United got plenty of juice out of Mata.

 

Manchester United and Chelsea, once fierce title rivals, have been willing business partners over the past decade, and the Red Devils benefitted from José Mourinho’s shunning of Spanish playmaker Juan Mata in west London.

 

Mata joined United midway through the 2013–14 campaign and wouldn’t leave until 2022. He left on a free, which means United technically lost all of the then-club-record fee they paid for him almost eight years before, but Mata was one of the rare examples of a big-money acquisition paying off.

 

He appeared 285 times with the club, helping them to FA Cup and Europa League triumphs, and was a fan favourite throughout.

 

6. Fred (£38.4 million)

 

 

Fred had far too many drawbacks. / Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

 

Ah, Fred.

 

United sent £47 million Shakhtar Donetsk’s way for the Brazilian midfielder’s services, and it didn’t take a genius to work out that the Ukrainian club had put the wool over their eyes.

 

Fred wasn’t awful in Manchester, far from it, but the tenacious operator often performed like a plucky underdog in the middle of the park. He required particular profiles around him to thrive, not Scott McTominay before the Scot discovered San Marzano tomatoes.

 

Like Wan-Bissaka, Fred had his moments at the Theatre of Dreams, but the club were willing to take a considerable hit when they eventually sold him to Fenerbahçe in 2023.

 

5. Nemanja Matić (£40 million)

 

 

Matić had a few successful years at Old Trafford. / James Gill -Danehouse/Getty Images

 

Nemanja Matić may not be regarded as one of the all-time great Premier League midfielders, but the Serb belongs in a close enough realm.

 

Matić was the lynchpin of multiple title-winning Chelsea teams, and opted to reunite with Mourinho at United in 2017.

 

He ended up playing more Premier League games with the Red Devils than he did the Blues, although his legacy on English shores is defined by the time spent in west London, rather than Manchester.

 

“I arrived at United with the anger to win trophies like I had at Chelsea, but step by step I started to feel that trophies were not the focus. Maybe I’m not right, but that was my feeling inside,” Matić would later comment.

 

His five years at the club ended without a trophy.

 

4. Raphaël Varane (£41 million)

 

 

Varane’s Man Utd career ended with

 

There was plenty of buzz when Manchester United drafted in Raphaël Varane from Real Madrid in 2021. Despite their demise, the Red Devils were still able to attract supreme talent, with Varane establishing himself as one of Europe’s premier defenders during a decade-long spell in Madrid.

 

However, Varane didn’t live up to the hype at Old Trafford, with fitness setbacks preventing the centre back from having a discernible impact.

 

He was United’s best when fit and available, but the Red Devils certainly didn’t enjoy anything close to sustained mastery at the heart of their defence. Varane retired a year removed from his United exit.

 

3. Anthony Martial (£44.7 million)

 



 

Martial never lived up to his Ballon d’Or projection. / Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images

 

It all started so promisingly for Anthony Martial, who had Martin Tyler pulling out an all-time commentary sequence on his Premier League debut.

 

Overall, Martial’s United legacy is tough to pinpoint because he was objectively brilliant for periods. He particularly excelled when crowds were absent immediately after the Covid-19 pandemic, scoring 17 Premier League goals during the 2019–20 season.

 

Ultimately, though, the forward failed to deliver on his supposed Ballon d’Or potential as a teenager. The final three seasons in Manchester were forgettable, with the club seeking an exit route for what felt like a decade.

 

He eventually joined Greek side AEK Athens for free in 2024.

 

2. Antony (£60 million)

 



 

Antony has to be United’s worst pound-for-pound signing. / Stu Forster/Getty Images

 

Manchester United spent EIGHTY TWO MILLION POUNDS to sign Antony from Ajax in 2022.

 

Things may have started brightly for the Brazilian, scoring against Arsenal, Manchester City and Everton in early-season encounters, but it quickly became clear that Antony, while he could impressively spin around while retaining possession of the ball, wasn’t of the required level. Not even close.

 

Pound-for-pound, he is the worst value signing in Manchester United‘s history. Now, he’s enjoying life in Seville with Real Betis.

 

1. Paul Pogba (£89 million)

 



 

’Pogback’ didn’t have the desired effect in the long run. / Michael Regan/Getty Images

 

Few transfers have garnered as much buzz as Paul Pogba’s Manchester United return in 2016, four years after he move from Old Trafford to Juventus and subsequently developed into a human highlight reel.

 

The compilation fiend set the club back a then-world-record £89 million, with the expectation that he was the midfield powerhouse capable of returning a fading United back to the promised land.

 

However, Pogba’s time in Manchester was ultimately a disappointment, even if there were some spectacular runs of form and outstanding performances. While otherworldly gifted, the Frenchman failed to function as the galvanising force the Red Devils required in their engine room.

 

Overall, Pogba’s second United spell somewhat resembles the institution itself over the past 12 or so years. He left in 2022 when his contract expired, returning to Juventus where his career spectacularly fell apart.

 

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Cole Palmer: Chelsea Star Provides Two-Word Injury Update

 

Chelsea’s talisman has not played since the opening weekend of the season.

 

By Tom Gott | 9 Hours Ago

 



 

Cole Palmer limped out of the warm-up before the win over West Ham. / Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

 

Cole Palmer has revealed he will be back “soon” as he continues his recovery from a groin injury.

 

The Chelsea midfielder has not played since the opening weekend of the new season, limping out of the warm-up before the 5–1 win over West Ham United with what was later revealed to be an issue with a long-standing groin injury.

 

A formal update on Palmer, who has missed two games and was forced to withdraw from England duty, has not yet been provided by Chelsea, but the Blues may not need to at this point after Palmer’s teasing social media update.

 

“Soon back,” he wrote on Instagram—news which was well-received by excited teammates Tosin Adarabioyo and João Pedro in the comments.

 

Pedro has helped replace Palmer at the top of Chelsea’s midfield in the Englishman’s absence, with fellow Brazilian Estêvão also proving to be a capable deputy in a more central role.

 

In search of natural cover for Palmer, Chelsea surprisingly struck a deal to sign Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Facundo Buonanotte on loan on Deadline Day, only to leave the new signing out of their Champions League squad two days later.

 

Buonanotte could see his first minutes in a Chelsea shirt after the international break when the Blues travel to Brentford, although there is hope that Palmer will be back available after another week of recovery.

 

Fans are also eagerly awaiting an update on the fitness of Liam Delap, who pulled up injured in the final game before the current break, prompting a ripple effect across the European transfer market as Chelsea sought to strengthen the striker position. Maresca confidently predicted the summer signing could miss up to eight weeks but reports have suggested Delap may be set for even longer on the sidelines.

 

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