Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino could be sidelined until November following a difficult start with the Gunners.
The Spain international completed a £31m move to the Emirates Stadium from Real Sociedad last week.
However, he will not be on the pitch anytime soon.
The 28-year-old sustained a shoulder injury during his first training session and is expected to be out of action for the coming weeks.
It is now suggested that Mikel Merino may not return until mid-October at the earliest.
There is hope that he could make his return after the October international break, according to the Daily Mail.
Mikel Arteta has addressed Merino’s injury and outlined the recovery plan that will be followed.
Speaking at the weekend, the Arsenal boss said: “Well, he had the incident and he carried on playing – and training.
“And at some point we were looking at him and thought he did not look right.
“That shows you how much he wanted it and he did not want to accept that was happening in that moment.
“But actually, that is what happened and now let’s use the time that we have, right now, to make sure he is familiar with everything that we are doing, how we live and what we expect of him, about our team dynamics.
“He will be in every team meeting as well.
“We will use the time in the best possible way and in a few weeks he will be ready.
“It is very disappointing because you can feel the pain of the player as well.
“We fought so hard for three months to get the player over the line.
“The club made a huge effort to bring him in and on day one for that to happen, it’s a huge blow.
“But his reaction has been exceptional straight away.
“We signed him for many years, not for a few weeks and we need to move on.
“These things can happen, it is very unfortunate but this is our reality.”
Read more: The cheapest and most expensive Premier League hospitality in 2024/25
David Ornstein hints at Liverpool revisiting Martin Zubimendi transfer in January
Luis Suarez reveals why he has retired from international football
