Arteta: Jimenez injury one of the scariest moments in my career

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admits seeing Wolves striker Raul Jimenez fracture his skull was one of the scariest moments of his career.

Jimenez suffered the serious injury during an aerial challenge with former Arsenal defender David Luiz during Wolves’ 2-1 win at the Emirates Stadium in November 2020.

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The Mexico forward, who was treated on the pitch following the incident, would not return to football for eight months – even then he said the doctors told him it was a “miracle” he could play again.

The game took place in front of an empty stadium as coronavirus rules did not allow supporters to attend matches and the thud of the impact could be heard from Arteta’s position in the Arsenal dugout.

Ahead of Jimenez’s return to Arsenal with Wolves on Thursday night, Arteta revealed how worried he had been when the injury first occurred.

“Yes, I have had others but that was one of them,” he replied when asked if it was one of the scariest moments he had witnessed.

“Straight away you see the reaction, the anxiety that suddenly is in the team doctors and everybody involved trying to assess what was happening, it was frightening.

“Thanks to the medical team, they probably saved him at that moment from something that could have been much worse and for the recovery that he’s done.

“It’s great that after that he’s come back so quickly, performing and scoring goals like he’s doing. Regarding that topic (medics), yes we can always get better, and that should be the aim.

“Thank god it ended the right way, but it looked really, really bad.”

Luiz, who has since left Arsenal, was in contact with Jimenez throughout his recovery – with the striker unable to train with his