Gabriel Jesus to miss start of season after undergoing knee surgery

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Gabriel Jesus has undergone surgery on his knee and will miss the start of the upcoming campaign.

Jesus, who missed 15 games last season because of a knee injury he picked up at the World Cup, was ruled out of the recent friendly victory over Monaco after complaining of 'irritation' in the same knee.

The boss has now confirmed that Jesus has again gone under the knife and will remain on the sidelines for the foreseeable future.

"Unfortunately, he had a little procedure this morning," Arteta revealed. "He had some discomfort in his knee that has been causing some issues and they had to go in and resolve it. It is not something major but he looks to be out for a few weeks, I think.

"It is a big blow because we had him back to his best, especially the way he played against Barcelona, and he was in good condition and we lost him. But he has been feeling some discomfort in the last few weeks and we had to look at it, we had to make a decision and the best one is to protect the player and get him back as quick as possible so we decided to do it.

"It is something related to the previous injury that he had and the surgery. He had some irritation in the knee and we had to get it resolved."

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As was the case during the season, Eddie Nketiah started in place of Jesus and the Englishman scored Arsenal's only goal of the game, but there was no place in the squad for United States international Folarin Balogun.

Balogun, who scored 21 goals in Ligue 1 on loan with Stade Reims last season, has been nursing a minor injury during a summer in which he has been heavily linked with a move away from Arsenal, and Arteta insisted Jesus' injury has not changed the team's plans for Balogun.

"The plan with Flo doesn't change at all, but unfortunately, with Gabby, we not going to have him," Arteta explained. "We have other options to play with different qualities of players, so we will adapt."

90min understands Arsenal are looking for a fee of around £50m to part ways with Balogun. Inter held talks over a move but are now focused on striking a cheaper deal for West Ham United's Gianluca Scamacca.

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On this edition of The Chronicles of a Gooner, part of the 90min podcast network, Harry Symeou reacts to Arsenal's interest in David Raya and what it means for Aaron Ramsdale, Folarin Balogun's plea to the club and the Emirates Cup!

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