A day after it announced that French international Samir Nasri would be sidelined for a month with a knee injury, Arsenal lost Ghanaian-born midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong for as much as nine months after he injured his knee in training.

"That is a massive blow," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told the club's online TV channel. "A cartilage is three to four weeks but a cruciate like the one Frimpong did yesterday is six to nine months,''

The 18-year-old Frimpong, injured playing with the reserves in Ireland, was born in Ghana but moved to England when he was nine and has played for national youth teams in his adopted country. He is rated by Wenger as one of the top young Gunner players.

"He is a bit less of a dribbler," said Wenger, "but he is a fighter and he is a winner/ Here you have a boy who can choose between England and Ghana, so if I was in your place I would have no hesitation and invite him very quickly to play for England. I think he will have a big future."