Mikel Arteta emphatically shut down reports that Bruno Guimarães could face as many as six weeks on the sidelines with a new muscle injury. “No, no, no, no, no,” he whispered intently.

Guimarães picked up a knock during last weekend’s Community Shield victory over Manchester City after delivering an impressive opening 45 minutes on his competitive debut. The $101 million signing from Newcastle United was not fit enough to even make the bench of Arsenal’s Premier League opener against Coventry City, sparking fears of a serious setback.

Some had speculated that the layoff could last between six and 10 weeks. Arteta firmly disagreed. “We expect that not to be weeks at all,” he told assembled media on Friday night. “Let’s see how he evolves this week.”

What Injury Does Bruno Guimaraes Have?

As Arteta revealed ahead of kickoff at the Emirates, Guimarães is suffering from “a slight tension in his groin.”

Any type of injury had been a rarity across Guimarães’s entire senior career for the most part. Across the Brazilian’s first six years in European soccer, he was forced to sit out just eight games for Lyon and Newcastle. Two of those were the consequence of a COVID-19 diagnosis while minor hamstring and ankle complaints sidelined Guimarães for two separate three-game spells in 2022–23.

This miraculous fitness record no doubt was thrown into disarray by a serious hamstring injury at the start of the year. Newcastle’s talisman was out for 14 consecutive matches between February and April, leaving him “devastated,” in the words of Eddie Howe.

There were fears from within the club that such a serious setback—which had been so out of keeping to his prior record—could lead to future muscular problems, the Daily Mail reported. Those concerns have been rapidly realized. Although, Arteta didn’t come across as overly concerned.

When Will Bruno Guimaraes Return From Injury?

Contrary to any lengthy layoffs, Arteta revealed that he and his staff had been forced to hold Guimarães back from playing on Friday for his own good. “He wanted to carry on and that’s when you start to understand the character of the player,” the Basque boss said with a grin. “But I don’t expect that to be a big issue.”

At this early stage of the season, Arsenal have 10 days to prepare for their next Premier League fixture: a Monday night trip to Aston Villa’s home ground. It’s not yet been confirmed whether Guimarães will be fit for that away day, but based upon Arteta’s timeline of days rather than weeks, he could very well be in the frame.

By the same logic, there should be a strong chance of the marquee summer signing playing some role in the London derby against Chelsea at the Emirates on Sept. 6.