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Confirmed: Arsenal star ruled out for up to nine months

By on December 7, 2018

Arsenal have now confirmed that Rob Holding is facing up to nine months on the sidelines after rupturing his cruciate knee ligament against Manchester United. 

Holding had been enjoying a fine run in the first team in recent weeks and once again lined-up alongside Sokratis and Shkodran Mustafi in the back three against United at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.

However, the 23-year-old was stretchered off midway through the first half after injuring his knee during a challenge with Marcus Rashford and Unai Emery admitted after the 2-2 draw he feared the injury was serious.

The boss gave little away at his pre-match press conference on Thursday afternoon when asked for an update on Holding but the Sun reported last night that the defender had damaged his knee ligaments.

Unfortunately the report has proven accurate as Arsenal have now released a statement on the official club website confirming that Holding has ruptured his anterior cruciate knee ligament and is facing between six and nine months on the sidelines.

The statement on Arsenal.com said:

Further to the injury sustained during our match at Manchester United on Wednesday night, we can confirm that Rob Holding has ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament of his left knee.

Rob will undergo surgery to repair this in the coming days. The rehabilitation process is expected to take between six to nine months.

This is a devastating blow for Holding as he’s improved immensely under Emery this season and was establishing himself in the first team with some excellent performances. Now, he’s facing a long road to recovery to get himself fit for the start of next season.

Luckily for Arsenal, Nacho Monreal is on the verge of making his return to action after resuming full training this week while Laurent Koscielny could also be on the bench against Huddersfield tomorrow so we have a couple of defensive options available again to cover for Holding’s absence.