Jonas Eidevall will be under pressure to recruit in the January transfer window after Viv Miedema's ACL injury, and one player who could likely be recalled to Arsenal action is summer signing Gio Queiroz.

The 19 year-old Brazil international is still yet to start for Everton after being sent on loan to Walton Hall Park at the start of the season, but scored her first goal for the club in a 3-0 win over Tottenham last week from the bench in an impressive outing.

Arsenal have the option to recall the winger from Everton in January, with many fans eager to watch her in red and white.

Whilst Beth Mead and Miedema are both irreplaceable to any side, many top players will jump at the chance to join Arsenal, who are still very much in the title race and have progressed into the Champions League quarter-finals. It’s a crucial period off the pitch before some huge games on it for the Gunners.

Miedema and Mead's ACL injuries

Three weeks after Mead’s injury, Miedema joins the long list of ACL victims in the women’s game

Beth Mead. Alexia Putellas. Vivianne Miedema. Three of the very best in the women’s game. All three sidelined with Anterior Cruciate Ligament injuries, as female footballers continue to be disproportionately affected by ACLs. 

The calls for increased research and education into the injuries could not be any louder now the Ballon D’Or winner and runner-up, plus the all-time WSL top scorer, have all suffered similar injuries in a matter of months.

After Beth Mead ruptured her ACL in the defeat to Manchester United in November, Vivianne Miedema returned to the starting XI to score in consecutive wins over Everton, Juventus and Aston Villa.

I wrote in my recent column for the print edition of the Gooner about just how important the Dutch striker will be in Mead’s absence, but before Issue 297 can even go to press, Miedema confirmed on social media that she ruptured her ACL in the Champions League game against Lyon at the Emirates last Thursday.

Miedema was stretchered off in agony with Arsenal and Lyon players visibly concerned as the extent of her injury became apparent. Watching at home, my thoughts turned to her partner and teammate Beth Mead, who was watching in the stands at the Emirates just weeks after suffering a very similar injury. 

Both players could now miss at least the rest of the current season, and their participation in the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand will also be in doubt.

Miedema wrote on social media that Beth “can guide me through everything that’s coming while only being a couple of weeks ahead of me”. The forward told fans “I won’t be telling you I’ll come back stronger… It will be tough with plenty of difficult days, but sadly enough it’s part of football”.

Mead joked that “I was given sympathy for 3 weeks and now [Miedema] has to go get some of her own… but we’ve got this, YOU’VE got this”.

Mead and Miedema have been at the forefront of a hectic footballing schedule in recent years and will now face months away from the pitch. With concerns about the welfare of players mounting, FIFA (as it so often does) failed to read the room and announced plans to launch a new Women’s Club World Cup, only adding more unnecessary games to a calendar that is at breaking point.

Arsenal’s win against Aston Villa wrapped up 2022 in the Women’s Super League, but the Gunners travel to Switzerland to face Zurich in the Champions League, with qualification already secured, on Wednesday night. It’s then something of a winter break before Arsenal face the small matter of Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium on January 15.