Arhip started in the 27-10 pre-season defeat to Bath last weekend but ruptured his Achilles and now faces an extended period on the sidelines.
“Dimitri has ruptured his Achilles and is probably looking at four to six months out,” said Ospreys head coach Steve Tandy.
“It’s extremely disappointing. Bath may have had the edge on us up front in the scrums, but it was Dimitri’s first start and with the work he did around the park, putting in some really physical tackles, there’s a bright future for him.”
With Wales international Aaron Jarvis also currently sidelined, the Ospreys are considering including British & Irish Lions ace Adam Jones in their squad to face Benetton Treviso on Saturday.
Up and coming tight-head prop Joe Rees is another option, as are the Ospreys’ Wales Under-20 front-row starlets.
“Touch wood, Aaron is not too far away,” said Tandy.
“We’d have liked him back for Bath, but he kept having tiny setbacks around his knee. He’s started to do a few units with us, so hopefully he won’t be longer than two to three weeks away.
“We have Adam, Joe Rees and a couple of under-20s props. We have plenty of options. Daniel Suter is an option, Adam is an option, Joe Rees is an option and so is Nicky Thomas, the under-20s’ tight-head. So we have options going into Treviso.”
And Tandy reckons the region is slowly developing successors for Triple Grand Slammer Jones.
“Obviously it’s going to be difficult to get someone of Adam’s calibre, but we have to strive to get the next one,” added the former flanker.
“We have Joe Rees, who’s an up-and-coming tight-head. We have an international tight-head in Aaron Jarvis, who had done pretty well before his injury last autumn.
“We have two guys in the Wales Under-20s and over the years we have consistently brought tight-heads through the system. Fingers crossed, we’ll get another Adam at some point.”
