Mikel Arteta provides huge injury update on Noni Madueke and three other Arsenal stars

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been speaking ahead of the trip to Port Vale (Image: Getty Images)

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed Noni Madueke is set to undergo further scans next week to determine the extent of his knee injury. Initial tests have suggested that the England international is poised to be sidelined for around six to eight weeks.

Madueke picked up the issue during the first half of Sunday's 1-1 draw with Manchester City and was later subbed at the interval by Arteta and replaced by the returning Bukayo Saka.

Arteta said ahead of tomorrow's Carabao Cup trip to Port Vale: "Yeah, he’s going to be out for a few weeks. We don't really know yet, probably we're going to have to do a scan next week again. He felt something at the beginning of the match, he tried to carry on and half-time he was too sore, so that's it."

When quizzed on whether Madueke will be sidelined for weeks rather than a number of months, Arteta added: "We hope so. As I said, we need to scan him again to see the real extent of the injury, but it doesn't look too bad."

While Madueke is yet to find the target for the Gunners, he has made a real impression on the flanks after also netting for England against Serbia. Arteta made it clear the 23-year-old is devastated by the blow and continued: "He was gutted, obviously. Very disappointing to see him because he was in such a good state. He looked a real threat. He was getting some consistency, some flow now into the team, and he looked like a real threat, so it's a big miss for us."

Madueke is not the only Arsenal star set to miss the midweek trip to the Potteries. Ecuador international defender Piero Hincapie is struggling with a groin issue and was left out of the matchday squad against City.

Arteta said of his deadline day arrival from Bayer Leverkusen: "He picked a little groin injury. We have to again assess him in the next few days how he goes. There's been a change of load and he didn't really have a pre-season after the injury. We'll have to see in the next week or so how he is."

Captain Martin Odegaard has, however, trained as he edges closer towards a comeback.

When asked if he'll need surgery to minimise the risk of sustaining further shoulder issues, Arteta replied convincingly: "No, no surgery. He's totally fine. He's already been training and it will be a matter of days, I think."

Noni Madueke will undergo another scan next week on his knee (Image: Getty Images)

Arteta also provided an update on Kai Havertz, who underwent knee surgery last month after picking up a problem in the opening day win at Manchester United.

The Spaniard has indicated the German is not likely to return to action anytime soon, adding: "Well, with Kai we know that it will be months with him. I don't know if he can be weeks. You never know because this is Kai and he's a different specimen.

"He's progressing and we really miss him. Hopefully he'll be back and back for the long term as well, which is very important to look at suddenly. So far he's progressing really well."