Danny Welbeck will miss a significant proportion of the season after undergoing surgery on his left knee.
The England international has been unavailable since picking up an injury in April, missing the FA Cup Final as well as the start of the new season.
Arsene Wenger, however, had been confident that the 24-year-old would return to action soon, saying ahead of last week’s trip to Newcastle that he expected Welbeck to return after the international break.
That estimation has now been dramatically revised, with a club statement warning the striker would be out for “a period of months”.
Arsenal added: “After increasing his training workload, the injury to his cartilage did not respond as well as hoped and the decision was taken last week for him to undergo surgery by a leading specialist in the field.”
How Arsenal's players fared on international duty
The absence of Welbeck, who scored eight times in 34 appearances last season, throws into starker light Wenger’s failure to sign a striker during the summer transfer window. The manager had targeted Edinson Cavani and Karim Benzema but ended the window with Arsenal the only team in Europe’s top-five divisions not to buy an outfield player.
The club now have just Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud available to lead the line. Highly-rated youngster Chuba Akpom is currently on loan at Hull City.
