Arsenal's Debuchy undergoes ankle surgery, expected to miss 3 months

Arsenal simply cannot afford any more injuries along the backline following Arsene Wenger's announcement that right-back Mathieu Debuchy will miss three months after undergoing ankle surgery.

The French international, signed by the club this summer from Newcastle, sustained the injury in the 2-2 draw against Manchester City earlier this month. While the club was holding out hope of avoiding surgery, the decision was ultimately made and the 29-year-old did indeed go under the knife.

“It all went well, but it can be a week or two earlier or a week or two later, but it will be around three months," Wenger said.

“It is a blow of course, how big it will be we will only know afterwards because it will be down to how well we replace him. We bought (Calum) Chambers for that.”

In addition to Chambers, Wenger could also turn to 19-year-old Hector Bellerin, who deputized for the two men when neither could play in the Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund last week.

That said, if he stays healthy, Chambers will see almost all of the action at right-back until Debuchy returns to the lineup.