Arsenal have now officially confirmed what had been long suspected- striker Gabriel Jesus has suffered an ACL injury in his left knee. “Further to being substituted during our match with Man United, Gabriel Jesus has received extensive assessments, which have confirmed that he has sustained an injury to the ACL in his left knee,” the statement reads.
The Brazilian is now done for the season, and that is a big blow to Arsenal’s final third, with Bukayo Saka already out injured until about April.
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The news is much better for defender Riccardo Calafiori, as he’s healed up from his knee injury, and he could be in contention to play here.
“His thing is not much,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said a couple days ago.
“But again, we need another day or two. We’ve been playing every three days, and 24 hours becomes really important because they are not long-term injuries. We will have more understanding this afternoon.”
Elsewhere Takehiro Tomiyasu is a couple weeks away, while Ben White and Ethan Nwaneri are a week or so, or thereabouts, behind him, in terms of the return timeline.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.