Mikel Arteta says Riccardo Calafiori being fit for Arsenal’s Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain is a possibility.
The defender suffered a knee injury on international duty for Italy in March and will again miss this weekend’s trip to Ipswich Town.
On his availability for the semi-final first leg against PSG on April 29, Arteta said: “If everything goes well I think so. Maybe a little bit earlier.
“He’s on the pitch already and doing quite a lot of stuff. We just need to take the right steps now to make sure when he’s back, he’s in a good place to perform.”
The first leg at the Emirates will come five weeks after Calafiori suffered the injury for Italy against Germany on March 20.
Fellow Italy international Jorginho will not be available against Ipswich either after injuring his ribs late on against Brentford on Saturday.
On whether the 33-year-old would return for PSG, Arteta added: “That’s probably a question for the doctor, it’s quite a specific and difficult matter, so I will leave that to the club to make an analysis.”
Jorginho’s availability will be of particular interest in recent weeks as Thomas Partey is suspended for the first leg against PSG. Asked whether he has plans for how to replace the midfielder against PSG Arteta said he had “a few options”.
Questioned whether Myles Lewis-Skelly, who is a midfielder by trade despite breaking into the side as a left-back, he added: “It will be down to the availability of players in that moment.
“So, who is available, who is able as well to do that, for how long in-game. Because I know we have players that they could not play 90 minutes. So once we are closer to that game, we can decide.”
The Arsenal manager was asked last week about whether Kai Havertz could return before the end of the season, and replied “hopefully.”
Asked again during Friday’s pre-match press conference, Arteta said: “If I had to bet on him earlier than expected, I would say yes. The way he works every day in that gym, pushing everybody, I don’t think you can hold him much longer.”
Arsenal’s next match is Ipswich on Sunday, April 20 before facing Crystal Palace on Wednesday, April 23. They then have a weekend without a match before hosting PSG.
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