Arsenal supporters have been counting down the days until Gabriel Jesus is back and available for selection.
The striker has been sidelined since the beginning of December after undergoing successful surgery as a result of suffering medial ligament damage whilst in action for Brazil at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and, so far, Gunners manager Mikel Arteta has refused to set a return date for his £45m signing.
"Doing really well he's been doing quite a lot of work on the ball already and his rehab is going well," the Spaniard revealed ahead of Arsenal's defeat against Manchester City last week. "Unfortunately no [with regard to a timeframe]. Ask the doctor maybe he’ll give you one."
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Despite a lack of an update, many Arsenal fans on social media have a theory that Jesus will, at the very least, be back in full training before the end of the month with one, in particular, going as far to suggest the 25-year-old could be amongst the substitutes against Leicester City this weekend.
Following the comeback win over Aston Villa, @PaulBouman18 tweeted: "Next week Partey and Smith Rowe back! Gabriel Jesus on the bench possibly!", @Sugamite2 said: "Gabriel Jesus will be available next week! Phew!" and @army1_x said: "Gabriel Jesus will be back next week."
Now it should be noted that even if Jesus is back in full training ahead of the trip to the King Power Stadium, it's unlikely that he will be included in the matchday squad and that's solely because of Mikel Arteta's cautious approach with players returning from long-term injuries.
With that said, the theory that the Brazilian can soon resume full training with the rest of the Arsenal first-team squad does actually fall in line with the scenario that was outlined by medical expert Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT post-surgery on December 6.
"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."
As things currently stand, it's 11 weeks since Jesus' operation and four weeks since the Gunners' 3-2 win over Manchester United when he revealed to former UFC Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, that he hoped to be back playing within a month.
Judging by these timelines, it could be that the forward is in contention to face Everton on March 1 or the Bournemouth game at the Emirates Stadium three days later. Failing that, with the Europa League coming back into focus as well as London derbies against Fulham and Crystal Palace, there should be plenty of time for Jesus to make his long-awaited return.
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