Arsenal's worst fears regarding Gabriel Jesus' injury appear to have come true.
Speculation surrounding the striker's expected time on the sidelines has been rampant ever since he was forced to come off during Brazil's 1-0 defeat at the hands of Cameroon in their final game of the World Cup group stages last Friday after suffering from pain in his right knee.
Initially, as reported by football.london, the Gunners' £45m summer signing from Manchester City was facing up to three to four weeks on the sidelines after scans detected an injury. Of course, this was the ideal scenario for manager Mikel Arteta who would have only had to make do without Jesus for games against West Ham United, Brighton and potentially Newcastle United.
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However, amid reports claiming the knee problem is worse than initially feared, the club have confirmed that, Jesus suffered medial ligament damage and has already undergone an operation: "Gabriel Jesus has successfully undergone surgery to his right knee after suffering an injury during the Brazil v Cameroon World Cup group stage match on Friday," a statement reads.
"Gabby will now begin his rehabilitation programme. Everyone at the club is supporting Gabby and will be working hard to get him back on the pitch as soon as possible."
Cue an update from medical expert Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT: "Latest on Gabriel Jesus. Return timeline after MCL surgery is typically 10-12 weeks," he wrote on Twitter. "Ligament heals quite well due to robust blood supply. Granit Xhaka was back in 70 days & would’ve been sooner if not for accompanying fracture as well. True timeline will be wait & see."
If Jesus is indeed facing up to 12 weeks on the sidelines, he is looking at a return around February 28. Therefore, it's not just the aforementioned three Arsenal games that the Brazilian will be absent for. In fact, it may not be until the beginning of March that he's available for selection again.
In this period the Gunners face West Ham United (H) , Brighton and Hove Albion (A) , Newcastle United (H) , Oxford United (A) (FA Cup), Tottenham Hotspur (A) , Manchester United (H) , Everton (A) , Brentford (H) , Manchester City (H) , Aston Villa (A) and Leicester City (A) .
Furthermore, there will be another FA Cup tie across the weekend of January 28 that Jesus will sit out if Arsenal get past Oxford in round three. But he could return to action for a potential fifth-round fixture on March 1.
Failing that, he could make his comeback when the Gunners face Bournemouth four days later. In total, a 12-week layoff would see Jesus miss between 12 to 13 games across all competitions and Arteta will hope his side can cope without a player who has made such a huge impact this season - even if the goals have dried up of late.
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