Arsenal have been handed a huge injury boost ahead of their Europa League round of 16 clash against Sporting CP. Gabriel Jesus was among those who trained at London Colney on Wednesday morning ahead of the European tie on Thursday evening.
Mikel Arteta is putting his side through their paces as the Gunners prepare to face a team who dropped into the Europa League following a disappointing Champions League campaign. Ruben Amorim's side finished third in their group, behind Arsenal's north London rivals Tottenham and Frankfurt.
With football.london at the open training session at London Colney on Wednesday morning, Jesus was spotted walking onto the field alongside Thomas Partey. Dressed in a thick black jacket, gloves and a snood, the returning Brazilian will be a welcome sight for Arteta ahead of what is an important part of the season.
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The striker, who joined from Manchester City in the summer, has not played for the Gunners since before the World Cup after he injured his knee while playing for Brazil in Qatar. Arsenal and Arteta had been keen to not place a timeline on when Jesus will return but the fact he is now in first team training with the rest of the squad perhaps indicates his return to match day action is not far away.
"He’s not far now," Arteta revealed ahead of the Bournemouth game when asked how Jesus is. "I don’t want to give a timeline, but he’s doing certain things with the team and certain things outside the team still.
"He’s not very close, but he’s not very far. He’s feeling better every day and the doctors are feeling confident with how he’s evolving. We are in a good place with him, I think."
While Jesus returned to training there were still some notable absentees for Arteta. Leandro Trossard, Eddie Nketiah and Kieran Tierney were not among those who trained and are all doubts for Thursday's clash against Sporting CP.
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