Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Gabriel Jesus will be sidelined for the first "few weeks" of the Gunners' 2023-24 season as he recuperates from a recent knee operation.
After featuring heavily during his side's recent USA tour, the 26-year-old was a notable absentee from Wednesday's Emirates Cup triumph over Monaco, with the Gunners announcing that he was being assessed for a knee injury.
In Jesus's place, Eddie Nketiah led the line and equalised for Arsenal following Youssouf Fofana's opener, before Arteta's side triumphed 5-4 in a penalty shootout.
Facing the media after the game, Arteta revealed that Jesus was forced to go under the knife on Wednesday morning, as an issue from his previous knee injury - which ruled him out for three months after the 2022 World Cup - flared up.
"Unfortunately, he has had a little procedure this morning, he had some discomfort in his knee that has been causing some issues and they had to go in and resolve it. It's not something major, but he's going to be out for a few weeks I think," Arteta said.
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"It's something related to the previous injury that he had and the surgery. He had some irritation in the knee and we had to get it resolved.
"It's a big blow because we had him back to his best, especially with the way he played against Barcelona, 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."
Jesus's operation will rule him out of Sunday's Community Shield with Manchester City, while he will likely sit out the Gunners' first few Premier League games against Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace and Fulham before the end of the month.
During the Brazilian's lengthy absence during the middle of the 2022-23 campaign, Nketiah, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli held the fort up top to good effect, but Folarin Balogun is another option for Arteta after his stellar loan spell with Reims.
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The USA international also missed the Emirates Cup due to a foot injury - which is not expected to keep him out for long - although he has been persistently linked with a club-record departure to Inter Milan.
However, Arsenal are not budging on their £50m asking price, which could scupper Balogun's chances of a move elsewhere, and Arteta insisted that Jesus's injury changes nothing with the American's situation.
"The plan with Flo doesn't change at all, but unfortunately, with Gabby, we are not going to have him. We have other options to play with different qualities of players, so we will adapt," Arteta added.
Albert Sambi Lokonga (muscle), Reiss Nelson (toe) and Oleksandr Zinchenko (calf) are also in the Arsenal infirmary, but Arteta is hopeful of having the latter back in action "very soon".
Meanwhile, Bukayo Saka did not play a single minute on Wednesday, and Arteta revealed that the England attacker was spared due to sickness.
Ben Knapton
