This season, at least, never has there been a more anticipated Arsenal announcement amid conflicting reports with regard to the severity of Gabriel Jesus' knee injury.
The Gunners are yet to officially comment after it was revealed that the 25-year-old's World Cup has come to an abrupt end following one start and two substitute appearances for Brazil in Qatar. With that said, an announcement should be forthcoming as the club usually release a medical update when a first-team player is injured.
For example, when Emile Smith Rowe required surgery to correct an ongoing groin issue earlier in the season, there was an official statement from Arsenal as was the case towards the end of the 2021/22 campaign when Kieran Tierney was told he needed a knee operation.
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Until there is an official update from the club on Jesus, however, speculation with regard to how long the striker will be out of action will rumble on after he was forced to come off during Brazil's 1-0 defeat to Cameroon in the final game of the World Cup group stages after suffering with pain in his right knee.
Now, as reported by football.london on Saturday, the Gunners' £45m summer signing from Manchester City is facing up to three to four weeks on the sidelines after scans detected an injury. Of course, this is far from the ideal scenario for manager Mikel Arteta who was hoping for a clean bill of health when Premier League football returns on Boxing Day.
With that said, if those initial reports are accurate this would see Jesus miss friendlies against Lyon, AC Milan and Juventus - although he wouldn't have been expected to be available for those fixtures regardless as Brazil are tipped to reach the World Cup final on December 18.
But he does look set to miss Arsenal's first competitive game back against West Ham United as well as their final game of 2022 against Brighton and Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium. As there is hope that he will be able to return by January, he could be touch and go for the Newcastle United clash at the Emirates Stadium.
A three to four-week lay-off for Jesus, whilst not great, would certainly be the best-case injury scenario for the north London outfit especially as reports overnight claim the knee problem is worst than initially feared with the 25-year-old now facing up to three months on the treatment table.
If that report is accurate then it's not the aforementioned two or three Arsenal games in which the Brazilian will be absent for. Whilst there can't be a specific date given for his return to action until there is an official medical update, a potential three-month lay-off means it won't be until the beginning of March when he's available for selection again.
In this period the Gunners face West Ham (H), Brighton (A), Newcastle (H), Oxford United (A) (FA Cup), Tottenham Hotspur (A), Manchester United (H), Everton (A), Brentford (H), Manchester City (H), Aston Villa (A) and Leicester City (A).
Furthermore, there will be another FA Cup tie across the weekend of January 28 that Jesus will be unavailable for should the worst-case injury scenario become a reality if Arsenal get past Oxford in round three. But he could return to action for a potential fifth-round fixture on March 1.
Failing that, he could make his comeback when the Gunners face Bournemouth four days later. In total, a three-month layoff would see Jesus miss between 12 to 13 games across all competitions and Arteta will hope his side can cope without a player who has made such a huge impact this season - even if the goals have dried up of late.
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