Arsenal Twitter nearly went into meltdown mode on Tuesday when reports surfaced that Alexis Sanchez suffered a torn calf muscle in training with the Chile national team.  An injury of that magnitude would surely keep the superstar forward out of commission for a few months; however, the Chilean FA quickly released a statement claiming that the setback was just a “low grade muscle injury.”

A day after the released statement,reports declared that Sanchez could miss around six weeks of time due to the injured leg muscle.  Nevertheless, the circus surrounding the 27-year-old didn’t stop there.  On Thursday, the player himself finally addressed the injury.  “It is hurting a bit, but I’m fine.  I’ll be back for Tuesday (against Uruguay),” Sanchez told Chilean newspaper El Mercuro.

The player’s insistence that the injury, which is now described as a hamstring problem, is minor will surely calm Gooners around the globe.  There is, however, still some issues with how Chile is handling their hurt star player.  Gunners manager Arsene Wenger has labeled Chile potentially playing Sanchez on Tuesday night “suicidal.”

“I got a text last night (to say) that he has a hamstring injury,” claimed Wenger.  “The team from Chile has travelled without him and they kept him to try and get him fit to play Uruguay for the second game on Tuesday night.”

“I believe that with a hamstring injury we have to get access for our medical staff to the MRI scan to see what grade it is, how bad it is and make absolutely sure they don’t make any suicidal decision that could harm his future for two or three months.”

Chile are currently enduring a tough battle to secure a place in the 2018 World Cup.  La Roja would advance to a playoff if the qualification ended today; however, they’re next two matches are against teams above them in the South American table (Colombia and Uruguay).  A fit, or at least somewhat healthy, Sanchez would be a significant boost to the Chile national team heading into the important match against Uruguay next week.

From Arsenal’s point of view, Gunner fans are surely echoing Wenger’s comments about risking further damage to one of their most important players in the team.  Having Sanchez potentially miss a couple of months on the sideline due to aggravating the hamstring injury on Tuesday would be disastrous to Arsenal’s title hopes.  The forward needs to be fit and play as many games as possible with the club if they are to make a run at the Premier League title.

It is safe to say that fans of the north London club will be glued to their televisions when Chile face Uruguay in Santiago on Tuesday night.

SEE MORE: Schedule of World Cup qualifiers on US TV and streaming