Mikel Arteta gives positive Gabriel Jesus injury update
- Gabriel Jesus recently underwent knee surgery
- Brazil forward is set to miss the first few weeks of the season
- Arteta revealed the details of the injury in his pre-match press conference
Mikel Arteta has insisted Gabriel Jesus "will be back soon" after the forward underwent knee surgery.
The Brazilian forward went under the knife recently after citing an "irritation" in the knee he suffered ligament damage to during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
That injury back in December saw Jesus miss 15 games of the season, but speaking ahead of the clash with Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday, manager Arteta assured fans the star forward's current knee injury isn't as serious as the previous one.
He said: "He is fine obviously, he was very disappointed, he was feeling very good and this issue came up. Nobody expected it and we had to do a little procedure there. But unfortunately it was the best thing to do.
"[To do it] as quickly as possible the better. We made that decision. I'm sure he will be back soon and very fit."
Discussing the injury last week to the press, Arteta gave a clearer idea of when Arsenal fans can expect to see Jesus return to action: "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."
READ THE LATEST ARSENAL NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP
feed
Arsenal are notably shorter in offensive options due to Jesus' injury and asked about whether or not he was pleased with the size of his squad, Arteta replied: "We are in the process of working on a few things and make a few decisions, there's still time to do that.
"We are very happy with the squad, that's for sure. As well, we have to make sure that can share minutes around the team in order to have healthy competition within the squad. We are working on that."
LISTEN NOW TO 90MIN'S TALKING TRANSFERS PODCAST
On this week's edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Toby Cudworth is joined by Graeme Bailey to discuss the next steps in Bayern Munich's Harry Kane hunt, Brighton rejecting another Chelsea bid for Moises Caicedo, who has had the most impressive transfer window so far & more!
If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!