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Arteta on Jesus, Nelson and Smith Rowe injuries

Mikel Arteta gives instructions to Gabriel Jesus

Mikel Arteta believes that it is difficult to determine just how long Gabriel Jesus will be out of action after the striker underwent knee surgery.

The Brazilian departed the World Cup prematurely after picking up the issue during their group stage defeat to Cameroon, and went under the knife in an attempt to fix the problem, ruling him out of selection for the immediate future as the domestic season resumes.

While Arteta admits that his absence is likely to be long-term, he isn’t willing to put a timeframe on the recovery period just yet as he awaits to see how Gabby responds following the procedure.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Arteta said: "With Gabby [Jesus] it's very difficult to put a timeframe [on his recovery]. it was a significant injury and knowing him, I prefer not to give any dates away. 

“It will take some time for sure. Obviously, he’s going through surgery so that’s the extent of the injury.”

Mikel also revealed that Reiss Nelson will also miss out on some of the upcoming matches after coming off early in the first half during our friendly against Juventus last week, but there was better news regarding Emile Smith Rowe who is edging closer to full fitness after undergoing surgery to fix a groin problem.

“Reiss, unfortunately, picked up an injury in the game against Juventus and he is going to be out for a while I think,” Arteta added. “I’m talking about weeks. Let's see how he reacts to the next few days but he felt something straight away and with sprinters, that's not a good sign.

“Emile is close, he is starting to train again. He had a little setback but he is in a good place. We’ve done a lot of things with Emile - sometimes he’s been very close [to the squad], sometimes he's been in different places to see different environments, but his attitude has been great. 

“This is part of any career, you have periods when you are out, when you have long-term injuries, and he needs to react to that. He’s got all our support; he’s a huge talent that we need for the second part of the season at his best, because his contribution is going to be key to the team.”

Hear everything Mikel had to say in his press conference, including further team news, David Moyes’ influence on his career and his plans for the upcoming January transfer window.

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