Gabriel Jesus was Arsenal’s main striker last season before he suffered an injury at the World Cup, which kept him out for several months.
The Brazilian returned to fitness at the end of the 2022/23 campaign but is now out once more.
Jesus’ injury flared up earlier in pre-season, Arteta confirmed, following surgery on the same knee after he had suffered the initial issue at the World Cup:
“It’s a big blow because we had him back to his best, especially with the way he played against Barcelona,” said the Gunners boss.
“And he was in good condition, and we’ve lost him. He’s been feeling some discomfort in the last few weeks, we had to look at it and we had to make a decision and the best one is to protect the player and get him back as quickly as possible, so we decided to do it.”
Said injury may have led some fans to believe that Folarin Balogun would be given a chance in the XI after impressing in Ligue 1, but that does not look to be the case.
And when speaking in a recent interview, Arteta suggested that Arsenal’s decision to sell Balogun will not be impacted by Gabriel Jesus’ injury:
“The plan with Flo doesn’t change at all,” Arteta told reporters.
“But unfortunately, with Gabby, we’re not going to have him. We have other options to play with different qualities of players, so we will adapt.”
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