Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has admitted there is currently no timescale placed on Gabriel Jesus’ return from a knee injury.
The Premier League leaders suffered a huge blow to their growing title hopes this week ahead of the domestic football restart in late December after their star striker underwent surgery on a problem sustained with Brazil at the World Cup.
While Arsenal sources insisted it was too early to map out a potential recovery timeline for Jesus, there are understood to be fears that he could be sidelined for up to three months.
Such a worst-case scenario could prove devastating to Arsenal’s hopes of holding off Manchester City in a fierce title battle in the New Year.
The Gunners’ non-World Cup stars stepped up preparation for the league’s return on Boxing Day with a first friendly at their warm-weather training camp on Thursday, brushing aside Alexandre Lacazette’s Lyon 3-0 in the Dubai Super Cup thanks to goals from Gabriel Magalhaes, Eddie Nketiah and Fabio Vieira.
After that win, which also saw Arsenal pick up a bonus point for winning a post-match penalty shootout, Arteta was inevitably quizzed on if he knew already when Jesus might be able to return.
“No,” the Spaniard replied. “We know that he needed some intervention in the knee. We’ll have to take it day by day, week by week and see [where] it takes us.”
There have been suggestions that Jesus’ injury could force Arsenal into the January transfer market in pursuit of a new forward to lighten the load on the likes of Nketiah.
Asked if the loss of Jesus impacted his transfer strategy, Arteta said: “What it affects is who we are as a team because he gives us so much, so what we can do after that, when we know the timescale [of his recovery] and when we can have him back, we will look at the options and try to make the right decision.
“I feel like my squad is really good. Unfortunately, we’ve had injuries and we will try to see what we can do to be strong. We have players, we have a lot of accompanying players. [The question is] do we have the players that can give us the performances and the consistency that we need to maintain and improve from where we are?”
One option proposed to Arteta to fill the Jesus void would see Brazil team-mate Gabriel Martinelli pulled in from his preferred left-hand side to operate more centrally.
“We look at the squad and we consider every option obviously, with the players that we have available,” Arteta responded to that suggestion. “There are things that we can try if we have the need to do so.”
