Mikel Arteta has admitted it is unlikely that Gabriel will be fit to face Brentford on the opening day of the season.

Last month, Gabriel Magalhaes had to pull out of the Olympics with an injury problem that we knew at the time put his start of season with Arsenal in doubt.

“We don’t know [whether he will be available for Brentford],” Arteta told Arsenal.com after the Chelsea match. “He’s still injured. He picked up an injury while he was doing the preparation for the Olympics with Brazil and at the moment he’s not been able to train with us. That seems unlikely at the moment but hopefully he can recover quickly.”

The issue is reportedly tendonitis in his right knee and swelling of the joint. Gabriel initially complained of pain after his first training session with Brazil at the start of July, but when physical therapy didn’t help, he had an MRI to confirm the problem, and was then released by Brazil.

Dr. Rajpal Brar pointed out in his video on Gabriel that the defender already had his knee taped up at the end of last season with Arsenal, so this clearly isn’t a new problem.

The news comes as Arsenal face an anxious wait on Thomas Partey. The midfielder picked up an ankle problem after a poor challenge by a Chelsea player. Mikel Arteta admitted after the game that it did ‘not look good’.