Arsenal to be without Francis Coquelin until March as Arsene Wenger confirms knee injury is 'what we feared'

Coquelin has suffered damaged knee ligaments to leave Wenger without four first-team midfielders

(2015 Getty Images)

Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Francis Coquelin’s knee injury is what he “feared” after ruling the Arsenal midfielder out for three months with knee ligament damage after receiving the results of a scan.

Wenger said on Monday that the Frenchman will miss at least two months after limping out of the 2-1 defeat by West Brom on Saturday following a slide tackle on Claudio Yacub, but he did not want to give a definitive answer until he had seen the full extent of the injury.

Speaking after Arsenal’s 3-0 Champions League victory over Dinamo Zagreb yesterday evening, Wenger confirmed that the prognosis was bad news for the Gunners, with Coquelin set to be ruled out until March.

“It is what we feared basically,” said Wenger. “It means it will be, let's be realistic – a medial knee ligament – 12 weeks.”

The blow adds to the alarming injury crisis that has struck Arsenal’s midfield this season. Jack Wilshere and Tomas Rosicky are long-term absentees who are yet to play a minute this season, the latter already ruled out until 2016, while Mikel Arteta suffered a recurrence of the calf injury he picked up earlier in the season in Saturday’s loss.

Aaron Ramsey made his return from injury as a second-half substitute in the win over Zagreb, but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is not ready to return yet after suffering a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury.

Away from the midfield, Wenger is also unable to call on the services of Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck, although it’s hoped Walcott could return in the next few weeks while the latter will not play again this year with his last outing coming in April.

The troubles could force Wenger to make moves in the January transfer window that he previously would not have considered. Having shown a clear reluctance to sign any out-field players in the summer despite the availability of Sami Khedira and Morgan Schneiderlin – who left Real Madrid and Southampton respectively – Wenger could now seek alternative targets.

Sporting Lisbon’s William Carvalho has been constantly linked with a move to the Gunners over the past year, but the Portuguese club will hold out for his £32m release clause, while Bayer Leverkusen’s Lars Bender is another to have cropped up on the radar.