Brighton's injury crisis continues as versatile midfield marshal forced off at Arsenal

The Seagulls have invested heavily this transfer window with more than £200m spent on new talent – but four new signings were unavailable to travel to the Emirates for the match against Arsenal this afternoon (Saturday, August 31).

Matt O’Riley, a £25m signing from Celtic, sustained a serious ankle injury six minutes into his debut in their Carabao Cup win against Crawley Town last Tuesday.

Mats Wieffer, a £25m signing from Feyenoord, is also struggling with ‘a small issue’ following his encouraging debut at Everton. The Netherlands ace missed the 2-1 win against Man United and the Arsenal match arrived too soon.

Ferdi Kadioglu – a £25m purchase from Fenerbahce – was paraded before the Brighton fans ahead of the Crawley cup win, but he picked up a knock and he missed the trip to the Emirates.

Brajan Gruda, 20, is also yet to kick a ball for his new club as he works his way towards full fitness following a ‘small injury’.

Following the departure of Billy Gilmour to Napoli, Fabian Hurzeler had a midfield headache to deal with for the match in North London.

He opted to play youngster Carlos Baleba alongside veteran James Milner – the latter lasted just 16 minutes before was substituted. The nature of the injury is currently unclear.

The 38-year-old was replaced by Yasin Ayari.