Arsenal may utilize the Europa League to ease Gabriel Jesus back into play as Mikel Arteta prepares for the rematch against Manchester City with the great striker ready to go.
Every single person involved with Arsenal football club continues to linger around the return date of Gabriel Jesus. The importance of the striker is simply so great that just knowing when we might catch a glimpse of him getting close to a return takes over nearly every pre-match press conference and has for the past couple of months.
Jesus spoke with UFC fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov in mid-to-late January and suggested he might be back in an Arsenal shirt in ‘four or five weeks’ although with five weeks approaching this Sunday and no word on his return, that appears inaccurate. However, Mikel Arteta did confirm he’s now training outside and doing ball work, so it may not be too far off.
“Doing really well,” Arteta said when asked how Jesus is doing. “He’s on the pitch, he’s been doing quite a lot of work on the ball already and so far his rehab is going well.”
Some estimations had Jesus returning in early March and this would coincide with the return of European football for Arsenal. Having topped their Europa League group, Arsenal progressed straight through to the last 16, a round they have never been eliminated from in their past three visits in the modern iteration of the tournament.
The away leg is due to take place on Thursday, March 13 with the home leg the following week on Thursday, March 20. There is hope that Jesus could be back and Mikel Arteta might use the Europa League to ease Jesus back into top-level action and up his minutes before throwing him into the Premier League.
Arsenal have a period of seven games in just 23 days. Eddie Nketiah, who has started and completed every Premier League game since the World Cup in Jesus’ stead, has appeared rather tired toward the end of matches.
The return of Jesus will allow the ability to share the load but with so much emphasis on the Premier League title race the dynamic up top that Arteta will have to oversee is fascinating. Prior to these past few games, Nketiah had won over the fans with his goals against West Ham, Brighton and Manchester United.
However, having not scored in the past five games the pressure has increased and the yearning for Jesus to return has grown. When the former Man City man does return, he might find himself fully prepared and ready for the title clash with his old club in April much thanks to the Europa League preparation, with the Gunners set to discover who their European opponents will be on Friday.
Arsenal star Gabriel Jesus dropped another subtle hint that he is closing in on a return by what he was wearing when spotted in the post-Bournemouth celebrations. The 25-year-old was captured on the touchline alongside Mohamed Elneny after the full time whistle receiving hugs from Mikel Arteta, Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson.
While Elneny was wearing normal clothes, Jesus was wearing a pre-match kit and that was because he took part in a post-match warm down alongside substitutes such as Kieran Tierney and Jakub Kiwior as noted by Goal.com’s Arsenal’s correspondent Charles Watts.
“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.”
Arsenal and Arteta have been keen to not place a timeline on when Jesus will return but there are some estimations that he will return in early March and this would coincide with the return of European football for Arsenal. Having topped their Europa League group, Arsenal progressed straight through to the last 16, a round they have never been eliminated from in their past three visits in the modern iteration of the tournament.
After several training sessions at London Colney, his work after the game on Saturday shows he is closing in on a return and Jesus was joined by two important people in his life. The former Manchester City man took to Twitter to post some images of his wife and daughter, captioning the post “Best part of my day”, *heart emoji*, *heart eyes emoji*, *hands together emoji*.
source: football.london
