Mikel Arteta upbeat on Gabriel Jesus' return to fitness for Arsenal - 'He's really pushing the boundaries'

Mikel Arteta has provided an upbeat fitness bulletin on injured forward Gabriel Jesus. The Brazilian joined Arsenal from Manchester City in the summer and played a key part in the Gunners’ fine start to the season. Ad Jesus’ season was cut short by an injury picked up on international duty at the World Cup with Brazil in early December.

Premier LeagueJorginho, Arteta say half-time team talk key to 'beautiful' win over Villa18/02/2023 AT 15:56 The prognosis was that the knee injury could rule Jesus out for as long as six months. There was a fear among Arsenal fans that Jesus’ season could have been over, but he has recently been seen working on his fitness in individual sessions and manager Arteta is happy with the 25-year-old’s progress. “He’s progressing really well,” Arteta said.

“He’s doing more and more on the field and he’s not reacting [negatively], so that’s really positive.” Arteta says Jesus is pushing hard in a bid to get back and help Arsenal in their title push. “We want to have him as quickly as possible but also respect the time-frame we got from the doctor and the specialists,” Arteta said. “He’s really pushing the boundaries right now.” Haaland not to blame for City failings says Guardiola 'Your mental health suffers' — Potter admits things are tough in charge of Chelsea Thomas Partey is another player who has been struggling with injuries, but he could be in line to face Leicester City in the Premier League on Saturday.

«The question mark is on Thomas,” Arteta said of Partey. “He hasn’t trained much but it looks like he could be available, so let’s see how he trains today. “He’s a really important player for us, who we missed in the last few games.