Category Archives: Injury News
Latest Episode in the Jesus and Brazil Drama
Since his mesmerizing performance for Arsenal in the 2-1 win over Sevilla in the Champions League last month, Gabriel Jesus has been on the sidelines, missing five games for Arsenal before this international break. While Arsenal had hoped that Gabriel Jesus would use the interlull to get some well deserved rest ahead of the clash with Brentford, Brazil called him up and declared that their own medical staff would assess the forward, which didn’t go well with Arsenal.
Brazil head coach, Fernando Diniz, touched on it in a recent press conference,
“I talked to Gabriel, and he didn’t come here without planning. He said he is feeling good. We thought it was an interesting risk to bring him here, he is good condition, and we are doing things with great care.
“As soon as he arrived, he had a new MRI scan. We are treating him very carefully, and if he’s in good condition, he can face Argentina.
“If not, I’m sure it was still very important for him to come here, and he’ll return to Arsenal in better shape than when he got here.”
First off, I’m happy that Jesus will, hopefully, not be considered for the match against Colombia this weekend, with the crunch clash against Argentina next week as the targeted fixture, and I’m guessing that he would be building up his fitness to get himself ready for such an important encounter, especially with leading forward, Richarlison, not available after his groin surgery.
Having Jesus play against Argentina will surely put him in contention for the clash with Brentford, but knowing Mikel Arteta, he’d rather tread on the side of caution and leave him on the sidelines till he’s fully fit. In his absence, Eddie Nketiah and Leandro Trossard have done their bits to deputize him well, with Nketiah stealing the show against Sheffield United, while Trossard opening the scoring against Sevilla and most recently, Burnley.
With Brazil also taking a cautious approach on handling Gabriel Jesus, I feel that there’s a common ground between the nation and Arsenal, who will be monitoring their striker’s progress with a keen eye.
Sayonara.
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Gabriel Jesus Selection Wars – Arsenal vs. Brazil?
Gabriel Jesus put up an attacking masterclass when Arsenal visited the Ramon Pizjuan Sanchez to take on Sevilla in Matchday 3 of the Champions League. He had fashioned two big chances for Gabriel Martinelli, one which was a goal for the winger, before scoring an amazing finish from the edge of the area, but sadly, he pulled up short late in the game and had to be substituted for the remainder of the game.
Jesus missed the 5-0 thrashing of Sheffield United with Eddie Nketiah stealing the show with a magnificent hat-trick, then he missed the back-to-back losses to West Ham United in the EFL Cup and Newcastle, albeit controversially, in the Premier League. Sevilla visited the Emirates Stadium and received a spanking for their troubles, while the defenders and Leandro Trossard came up with the goods against Burnley last weekend. That’s five consecutive games Gabriel Jesus has missed, alongside one month of footballing action.
So you can imagine the bewilderment from everyone associated with Arsenal when he was called up by the Brazilian national team for the double header against Colombia and Argentina. Despite the fact that he has not played competitive football since October 24th, the Brazil national team are insisting that he flies over across the Atlantic to the Americas for their own medical staff to assess Gabriel Jesus’ fitness ahead of the qualifying fixtures. Brazil, a nation filled with amazing football talent, are openly showing their distrust for the information received for the Arsenal medical staff, and are insisting they conduct their own tests.
This was further exacerbated by the Brazil national coach, Fernando Diniz,
“We’re going to bring Gabriel in to find out the real conditions, because we believe he can be fit enough to play.
“We have 24 players on the list, and if something happens to him we won’t need to change the squad.”
It’s a rather unfortunate situation, but it seems Arsenal would have to honor the Brazil FA’s request and send Gabriel Jesus for further assessments.
Let’s see how that pans out.
Sayonara.
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Thoughts on the Thomas Partey Injury Situation
Thomas Partey has been plagued by injuries since his arrival from Atletico Madrid in 2020, which has been a major concern for Mikel Arteta and everyone associated with Arsenal. It was reported in the summer that Saudi Pro League clubs, Al Nassr, Al Ahli and Al Khaleej, were interested in signing Partey for a big-money move, and Arsenal are interested in letting him go, but the move never came to fruition and with the departure of Granit Xhaka and the big-money acquisition of Declan Rice, Arsenal seemed content with retaining Partey’s services, alongside Jorginho and Mohamed Elneny as its central midfield contingent for the campaign.
Surprisingly, Partey commenced this season as an inverted right back, which was clearly a failed experiment in my honest opinion and sadly, the Ghanaian midfielder was ruled out for six weeks, which saw Arteta revert to his normal formation that did wonders for him last season. Arsenal were very cautious with Partey’s return, giving him 10 minutes in the slender win over Manchester City, but Partey played for Ghana in the last international break, only to suffer another injury in training ahead of the away game to Sevilla last month.
When Arteta was asked about his fitness, the Arsenal boss stated that he would be ‘out for weeks’, which was not good to hear, but our fears have been worsened after the Mirror reported that Partey has undergone a surgical specialist procedure to mitigate a thigh injury and he would be out till 2024. This news would also serve as a blow to Chris Hughton and the Ghana FA, as they would be hoping that their captain will be fit for the African Cup of Nations which is scheduled to start in January 2024.
With Elneny also leaving in January to join up with his Egyptian teammates, Arsenal would have only Rice and Jorginho as its defensive midfielders, with the likes of Kai Havertz, Fabio Vieira and Emile Smith Rowe (if fit), as the left eights. Rice is a player that has been exceptionally fit from his days at West Ham, but there’s something about Arsenal and injuries that are downright mysterious. While I hope he never gets injured, Rice has had concerns of his own, leaving the pitch at half time in the North London Derby following a back problem, same back problem that ruled William Saliba out for the latter end of the campaign.
With Partey currently 31-years-old and having one more year left on his Arsenal deal, I really hope that Arteta and Edu Gaspar have plans to sign a marquee central midfielder signing this summer. Jorginho is in the September of his career and this is probably Elneny’s last season with the club, and with Arteta having no trust for Albert Sambi Lokonga, a midfield acquisition has to be on the cards.
Kai Havertz hasn’t done enough to justify his position in the team and it’s evident that Arteta doesn’t fully trust Vieira or Smith Rowe to give them an extended run out in the team, so a new marquee midfielder signing has to be on the minds of the Arsenal hierarchy. It has been reported that Arsenal is interested in Martin Zubimendi, and I hope we go for the silky Spanish midfielder. In late 2022, Zubimendi signed a new contract which saw his time at Real Sociedad extended to 2027 with that including a €60million (£52.3m) release clause.
It’s unlikely that Arsenal will make the move for Zubimendi this winter transfer window, but a succession plan to Partey should be in place, as his injury issues have become downright frustrating.
I wish Partey a speedy recovery and would look forward to seeing him in action sometime in 2024.
Sayonara.
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