Arsenal are confident that Oleksandr Zinchenko should be fit in time for their return to Premier League football against West Ham on Boxing Day, football.london understands. The Ukraine international has missed both of Arsenal's pre-season friendlies against Watford and Lyon so far as he continues to deal with a muscle problem.
He was also absent when the rest of the squad trained at the Al-Maktoum Stadium in Dubai on Sunday. That group included the returning Ben White, Thomas Partey and Matt Turner after they were all eliminated from the World Cup in Qatar.
It is not thought that Zinchenko's injury is the same calf problem that saw him miss a month of football earlier this season. It is unclear if the 25-year-old could feature on Tuesday in Arsenal's friendly against AC Milan as he recovers, but it is thought that the problem is a minor one.
