Mikel Arteta has often stretched the boundaries of quirkiness in his pursuit of excellence at Arsenal. Now his attempt to push the margins in defence of their Premier League title sees him quite literally reaching for the stars.
Injuries are once again the focus for Arteta after Bukayo Saka sustained a thigh strain at Bayern Munich two weeks ago. He is expected to be ruled out for four to six weeks. It is the 25-year-old’s 11th injury since September 2024.
Arsenal have been blighted by injury, and Arteta has been fixated on reducing the problem ever since the 2022-23 campaign – where William Saliba’s absence cost them dear in the Premier League run-in.
But what are they doing to fix it? Daily Mail Sport can reveal that Arsenal staff have in recent seasons been tasked with reaching out to blue-chip companies, seeking innovative ways which could help lower the number of injuries and accelerate recovery.
NASA were consulted on their expertise in space physiology, specifically in relation to ACL injuries.
In space, the reduced load on the human body – because of less gravity – contributes to muscle atrophy and bone density loss. As a result, NASA have conducted extensive research into what happens to the body under reduced gravity, and how it responds when back on Earth.
Injuries are the one area that Mikel Arteta has been unable to solve in his quest to find marginal gains
Bukayo Saka went off inside 10 minutes at Bayern Munich last month, having suffered his 11th injury in just over two years
Arsenal believed there could be valuable lessons to apply to their ACL rehabilitation process. This includes exploring areas such as how much weight an injured player should bear at different stages, how quickly that load should be increased, how reduced-gravity exercise can allow players to resume running and loading movements earlier, and how to measure whether a player’s body is actually tolerating those increased demands.
The issue has been particularly pertinent given Arsenal’s experiences in recent seasons. Jurrien Timber ruptured his ACL on his Premier League debut against Nottingham Forest in August 2023, ruling him out for nearly nine months, and Gabriel Jesus spent 332 days out when he suffered the same injury in January 2025.
The problem has not been confined to the men’s team. Arsenal women’s side have also endured a troubling run of ACL injuries, with several high-profile players affected in recent seasons. Leah Williamson, Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema and Victoria Pelova all suffered ACL injuries in the 2022-23 season, while Manuela Zinsberger, Michelle Agyemang and Katie Reid have all had the same injury in the past 18 months.
NASA aren’t the only high-tech addition to Arsenal’s crackdown on injuries. It’s understood that Google, one of the club’s official partners, were consulted on data analytics. The company’s expertise in processing vast quantities of information could help identify patterns associated with injury risk, spotting subtle changes in running mechanics or physical output.
Similarly, Apple were consulted about using wearable technology to collect physiological data and build a clearer picture of how players respond to training and rehabilitation. This included the use of Apple Watches to track metrics such as heart rate and exercise intensity.
Arsenal’s global brand helps in these partnerships. It’s ultimately a passport into world-leading organisations, who are often intrigued by the prospect of working with a major sports side.
How effective Arsenal’s attempts have been is difficult to measure, as a multitude of factors contribute toinjuries, some of which are out of the club’s control. The number of players injured at Arsenal in recent years, though, have suggested a disproportionate problem compared to other sides.
One noteworthy example, given what has happened since, is the Champions League match against Club Bruges on December 10, 2025. Seven players were out: William Saliba, Gabriel, Cristhian Mosquera, Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, Leandro Trossard and Max Dowman. It took Arsenal’s injury total at that stage to 95 (excluding Rice’s illness) since the start of the 2024–25 Premier League season – only Brighton had more (97).
Jurrien Timber was struck down with an ACL injury in his Premier League debut in August 2023
Gabriel Jesus also suffered an ACL injury in January 2025, ruling him out for almost the entire calendar year
William Saliba’s injury in March 2023 proved fatal for Arsenal’s title charge, with Rob Holding unable to play in the same high line as Manchester City hunted the Gunners down
The club instigated a mass medical team shake-up last summer kickstarted by the appointment of Spanish physio Joaquin Acedo, a long-term Arteta associate from when he was a Real Sociedad player over two decades ago. Among the other new arrivals are head of medical services Dr Arnaldo Abrantes and physiotherapist Carmen Marquez, who both joined from Aston Villa, head of player rehabilitation Eneko Angulo and fitness coach Jose Jimenez.
A slogan on the wall in Arsenal’s medical room which reads: ‘Your best ability is availability’ says it all.
This season, Arsenal have not yet been as badly affected by injuries. Aside from Saliba and Saka, Christos Tzolis, Ben White and Mosquera have all spent time out, while Eberechi Eze recently picked up an unspecified injury.
It is the impact of missing key players at crucial times which has irked Arteta the most. While the 2023 title charge was killed off when Saliba had to be replaced by Rob Holding, who was unable to maintain the same high line and press, the 2024-2025 season fell apart when Jesus and Havertz were injured in January, leaving only midfielder Mikel Merino to play up front.
Last term Havertz started just seven league games after damaging his knee ligaments in the opener at Manchester United.
Perhaps the most Arteta-like thing about all this is that, even after turning to NASA, Google and Apple for answers, the search for an edge never really stops.
