Arsenal’s Mathieu Debuchy out for three months

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed France defender Mathieu Debuchy will be absent for three months after ankle surgery.

Debuchy – signed from Newcastle for €15m in the summer – sustained ankle ligament damage in the 2-2 draw with Manchester City last week and is now not likely to play again until Christmas, with Calum Chambers expected to deputise in his absence.

“He had surgery on Friday and will be out for three months,” said Wenger on Monday. “A reasonable delay is three months. 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. 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 Chambers for that.”

Wenger also confirmed left-back Nacho Monreal is absent with a back problem and is not expected to return until after the next month's international break. Yaya Sanogo, Theo Walcott and Serge Gnabry are also likely to be sidelined until next month, with a host of young players including Hector Bellerín, Francis Coquelin and Isaac Hayden all in the frame to feature against Southamptomn in Tuesday night's Capital One Cup tie against Southampton.

“On Tuesday night you might see Hector Bellerin, Francis Coquelin and Isaac Hayden. In the squad we have Chuba Akpom and Semi Ajayi as well. These are the players that are the closest,” said Wenger.