Arsenal turned to NASA and Apple in battle against injury crisis
Mikel Arteta has reached beyond football entirely in his attempt to solve Arsenal's persistent injury problem, with the club consulting NASA, Google and Apple for expertise that stretches from space physiology to wearable technology, according to the Daily Mail.
The report states that Arsenal staff have in recent seasons been tasked with reaching out to blue chip companies to find innovative ways to lower injury numbers and speed up recovery. NASA were consulted specifically for their knowledge of space physiology in relation to ACL injuries, given their research into how reduced gravity affects muscle atrophy and bone density, and how the body responds once back on Earth.
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Arsenal reportedly believed there were lessons to be taken into their own ACL rehabilitation process, including how much weight an injured player should bear at different stages, how quickly that load should increase, and how reduced gravity exercise could allow players to resume running sooner.
A problem that has defined Arteta's tenure
The issue has been a recurring one. Jurrien Timber ruptured his ACL on his Premier League debut against Nottingham Forest in August 2023 and was out for nearly nine months, while Gabriel Jesus suffered the same injury in January 2025 and spent 332 days on the sidelines. Arsenal's women's team have faced similar struggles, with Leah Williamson, Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema and Victoria Pelova all suffering ACL injuries in 2022-23, and Manuela Zinsberger, Michelle Agyemang and Katie Reid affected in the last 18 months.
According to the Daily Mail, Google, one of Arsenal's official partners, were brought in on data analytics to help identify patterns associated with injury risk and spot subtle changes in running mechanics or output. Apple were also consulted on using wearable technology, including Apple Watches, to track metrics such as heart rate and exercise intensity and build a clearer picture of how players respond to training and rehabilitation.
The scale of the problem was stark against Club Brugge in December 2025, when Arsenal were without William Saliba, Gabriel, Cristhian Mosquera, Declan Rice, Kai Havertz, Leandro Trossard and Max Dowman. That took the club's injury total since the start of the 2024-25 Premier League season to 95, excluding Rice's illness, with only Brighton suffering more at 97.
New medical setup and the Saka situation
The club overhauled its medical department last summer, led by the appointment of Spanish physio Joaquin Acedo, a long time Arteta associate from his Real Sociedad playing days. Dr Arnaldo Abrantes and Carmen Marquez joined from Aston Villa, alongside head of player rehabilitation Eneko Angulo and fitness coach Jose Jimenez.
Bukayo Saka's thigh strain sustained against Bayern Munich two weeks ago, expected to keep him out for four to six weeks, marked his 11th injury since September 2024. Arsenal have been less affected this season by comparison, though Christos Tzolis, Ben White and Mosquera have all had spells out, and Eberechi Eze recently picked up an unspecified injury.
Whatever the outcome of these partnerships, the scale of Arsenal's investment in outside expertise reflects just how central availability has become to Arteta's project, with the slogan in the club's medical room, ‘Your best ability is availability,’ left in no doubt as to the priority.
