Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus has taken another massive step in his recovery from knee surgery.
Sidelined since the beginning of December after sustaining ligament damage whilst on World Cup duty for Brazil, the 25-year-old has missed the Gunners' last eight games across all competitions - although the side have coped relatively well in his absence to remain top of the Premier League table.
With regard to a potential timeline for Jesus' return to action, following surgery, there was an update from medical expert Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT: "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 the accompanying fracture as well. True timeline will be wait and see.
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Considering Jesus successfully underwent surgery on December 6, 2022, as per Arsenal's official website, the 10-week mark is fast approaching and the striker revealed during the 3-2 win over Manchester United a fortnight ago that he hoped to be back playing within a month.
During the Brazilian's rehabilitation, he has provided fans with updates on social media. For example, ahead of Saturday's 1-0 loss against Everton, he took to Instagram and uploaded an image of him finally being back on the grass with a caption that read: "After eight weeks".
And there's more Instagram footage of Jesus' progress as his personal trainer, Andre Cunha, has shared a video of him running outside and this can only be great news for the north London outfit as their £45m summer signing from Manchester City could soon be available for selection.
Of course, everything depends on when Jesus returns to full training at London Colney with the rest of the Arsenal squad as that will ultimately determine when he will be in a position to aid their quest to win a Premier League trophy for the first time in nearly two decades.
"With him I don’t know. He wants to be next week," Mikel Arteta said during a press conference last month when asked for an update on the Gunners' number nine. "It’s totally unrealistic. He's pushing and driving everyone to the limits. Hopefully, it will be weeks not months."
This weekend's clash at home to Brentford will come too soon for Jesus and it's highly unlikely he will be fit to face former club Man City at the Emirates Stadium four days later, but with games against Aston Villa and Leicester City to close out the month, it remains to be seen if he features in any of those.
Alternatively, as the forward was initially facing up to 12 weeks on the sidelines, it may not be until the beginning of March when the Gunners welcome Bournemouth to the Emirates that he's available for selection again.
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