Mathieu Debuchy out of action for three months following surgery on an ankle injury manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed

Arsenal Defender Mathieu Debuchy has undergone surgery on the ankle ligament injury he sustained against Manchester City and will be out until at least Christmas, with Nacho Monreal also absent until the match against Hull City on Oct 18.

With Calum Chambers covering for Debuchy at right back and Monreal regarded as the only other senior option for centre-back cover, it leaves Arsenal without any experienced cover for Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny as they approach a crucial series of matches against Tottenham, Galatasaray and Chelsea.

They also face Southampton – a club Wenger described on Monday as “miracle workers” – in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday, when Abou Diaby is expected to make his first start for more than a year.

Wenger is also expected to use the match to trial some of the young defenders who are emerging from the academy, notably Isaac Hayden, Hector Bellerin and Semi Ajayi. They are players who could very easily be needed between now and January when Wenger can go into the transfer market and recruit the added defensive cover that he so clearly requires.

Of Debuchy, Wenger said: “He had surgery on Friday and will be out for three months. 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.”

Arsenal have bought Walcott, Chambers and Theo Walcott from Southampton over recent years and Wenger has reiterated his admiration for how they have coped with losing so many players from their academy.

“They are miracle workers at Southampton and you must say everybody expected them to collapse, they lost the spine of their team, they lost their manager and they bounced back in a such a way,” he said. “I must say when I saw them against Liverpool where they lost the game, I thought straight away that this team is
very strong and very good.

“I think if you look at the talents they have sold over the years, they could have been contenders to win the Premier League because they lost Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott, Bale plus all the players they lost last season, plus all the players they still have. They have done a fantastic job at Southampton, they deserve a lot of credit.”

Debuchy moved to fellow Premier League club Arsenal on 17 July 2014, signing a long-term deal for an undisclosed fee (believed to be around £12 million) and was given the number 2 shirt.He said "Playing again in the Champions League is a big excitement for me and I will do my best to help Arsenal compete for trophies".

He made his competitive debut for Arsenal in their 3−0 victory over defending league champions Manchester City in the 2014 FA Community Shield at Wembley Stadium on 10 August 2014. Six days later he featured in the Premier League for the first time as an Arsenal player, his injury-time shot was saved and then converted by Aaron Ramsey for a 2–1 win at home against Crystal Palace. Debuchy was sent off for two bookings on 27 August in Arsenal's win over Beşiktaş in the Champions League play-offs.

On 13 September 2014, Debuchy sprained an ankle near the end of a 2–2 draw against Manchester City. He was administered oxygen and taken off the pitch on a stretcher, and could be out for a "lengthy period", estimated as three months.