Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus wasn’t in training with the Gunners on Wednesday, ahead of their trip to Norway to face FK Bodo/Glimt.
As Arsenal took part in their final training session before matchday against FK Bodo/Glimt, there were four senior absentees.
Emile Smith Rowe and Mohamed Elneny were both expected absences, whilst it seems Oleksandr Zinchenko still hasn’t recovered sufficiently to rejoin training sessions either.
But a more surprising miss was Gabriel Jesus, with journalists in attendance at the session confirming he wasn’t involved.
Jesus received medical attention during the game against Liverpool on Sunday, and he ended up being substituted for Eddie Nketiah in injury time.
Though the Brazilian did continue playing for a while before his substitution, and there’s no official word on the reason for his current absence.
There’s no doubt that Jesus will be a miss for Arsenal, but he was unlikely to start Thursday’s game anyway. Nketiah started the reverse fixture last week, and will likely make the lineup again in Norway.
The bigger concern is whether Jesus will be fit against Leeds United at the weekend. Arsenal need to keep their momentum going in the league, and an injury to a key player like Jesus won’t make that easy.
On the other hand, there’s no need to panic just yet. Even if Jesus is absent on Sunday, Nketiah scored a brace in his last appearance against Leeds. He can fill in again if necessary.
There’s every chance Jesus is just getting a rest, so for now, we’ll wait for an update from Mikel Arteta.