Mikel Arteta says he loved the reaction of his teammates after Gabriel Jesus’s long-awaited return to training.
The Brazilian forward hasn’t featured for the Premier League leaders for close to 10 months, having torn his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) against Manchester United in an FA Cup third round tie last January.
Jesus has suffered numerous injury problems throughout his career in England, dogging not only his spell with Arsenal but also his time with Manchester City, and this latest injury has required a significant amount of rehabilitation.
Not in contention to play in the early stages of the 2025–26 Champions League, Jesus was left out of Arsenal’s squad for the competition when it was confirmed in the summer, but he is eligible to return to Premier League action at any point—the 28-year-old registered by the club at the beginning of the season.
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A huge milestone in Jesus’s recovery took place on Thursday as he returned to training, and Arteta was beaming about his progress when asked in his latest pre-match press conference for an update on his condition.
“Obviously, he’s been doing everything on his own; now he’s got players around him, very competitive players around him, and see how he copes with that,” the Spaniard said. “But he’s full of energy, I love the reaction of all his teammates when he first joined us and yeah, great to have him back.”
He added of a potential return date: “I don’t know, now it’s about making the steps day by day in a different surrounding.”
Gabriel Jesus could return before the end of the year. / IMAGO/Sport Press Photo
Arteta was also asked about Arsenal’s other injury issues, which have seen several key first-team players sidelined. Kai Havertz has been out for a number of months, but he’s recently been joined on the treatment table by Noni Madueke, Gabriel Martinelli, captain Martin Ødegaard and big-money summer signing Viktor Gyökeres.
It appears there may be potential returns against Sunderland, with Arteta saying when asked if all would be absent: “I cannot confirm all of that, but you are not far.”
After the weekend clash with Sunderland, the Premier League breaks off for the final international fixtures of 2025—a final chance for a bit of club football respite before the hectic Christmas schedule takes hold.
Arteta wasn’t overly hopeful that all of his injured stars will be available when Arsenal return to action, suggesting a lot would need to go the Gunners way to get the outcome they desire.
“Some of them, all of them I don’t know,” Arteta mused about immediate returns post-internationals. “There are a lot of things that have to happen in the next two weeks, and everything has to be perfect, but I think we’ll be very close with most of them to be in a really strong position.”
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