Arsenal are already guaranteed to be top of the tree in the Premier League at Christmas, but it's unlikely Mikel Arteta will be feeling too merry after his star striker, Gabriel Jesus, was sidelined last week.
The former Manchester City striker has quickly become an influential player for the Gunners since his summer switch and has been instrumental in their stunning start to the season. But it was confirmed over the weekend that the 25-year-old would miss the remainder of the World Cup after sustaining a knee injury during Brazil's defeat against Cameroon on Friday.
Arsenal are currently waiting to discover the full extent of Jesus' injury: some reports have suggested that he could require surgery which would rule him out until March, whereas others have claimed that he could be missing for weeks rather than months.
While Arteta waits for confirmation on Jesus, he has been boosted by the return of long-term absentee Emile Smith Rowe, who has been included in the Arsenal squad that will be participating in the Dubai Super Cup.
Smith Rowe has been sidelined ever since undoing groin surgery in September but is on course for a return to first-team action in the New Year.
The 22-year-old had established himself in the first-team prior to his issue and the Gunners academy graduate will provide Arteta with another attacking option ahead of Arsenal's return to action against West Ham on Boxing Day.
While it remains to be seen how long Jesus will be sidelined for, he is certain to be unavailable for Arsenal's festive fixture program.
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Reports in Brazil had claimed that Jesus headed into the World Cup with the issue that has ruled him out of action. But national team boss Tite angrily hit back at those reports during his pre-match press conference ahead of Brazil's showdown with South Korea in the Round of 16 on Monday.
Addressing those rumours, Tite raged: “I don’t like hearing lies out there - these are evil lies. They are put about by people who want to do bad things for other people. At no time do we play for victory by putting players in peril.
“My message is to these liars: Stop giving fake news. Arsenal have a great medical department - we have a great medical department. We are ethical. We are very sorry for Gabriel. But this never happened."
Arsenal sporting director Edu had been in private talks with Brazil in a bid to bring Jesus back to the club immediately in the wake of his injury. And while it initially appeared as though Jesus would be remaining in Qatar, the striker is now believed to be heading back to the Gunners' London Colney base to be assessed in the coming days.
