Henrikh Mkhitaryan is set for an early return to full training in the next week, giving Arsenal a boost as the forward was initially scheduled to rejoin the squad in February.

Mkhitaryan suffered an injury to his right foot during Arsenal’s clash with Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium in December. The medical team initially ruled him out until February, but it appears the Armenian international has made good progress since then.

Though Arsenal.com had him down for a February return as recently as January 9th, they’ve now revealed he’ll be back in full training ‘in the next week’.

Mkhitaryan was having a mixed season before his injury, to say the least. Though he started strongly, with a goal and assist against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, he then only scored one more in the next eleven league games.

However, he was starting to get things together with a brace against Southampton, before a poor performance and an injury against Spurs put him back to square one.

Let’s hope the 29-year-old returns back to his old Borussia Dortmund form. Whatever fans think of his performances, the fact is that Mkhitaryan is Arsenal’s fourth top scorer this season, with only three centre-forwards ahead of him. It can’t get any worse than failing to even find the net once against West Ham United, either way.