Mikel Arteta says the timeline of Gabriel Jesus’ injury will affect Arsenal’s business in the transfer market, but they don’t know it yet.

Gabriel Jesus is out injured for at least a little while, having had surgery on a knee injury reportedly sustained on international duty with Brazil.

But there’s no clear timeline for the player’s return just yet, as Mikel Arteta stressed when asked if he knew when the striker might return to action.

“No,” Arteta answered. “We know that he needed some intervention in the knee. We’ll have to take it day by day, week by week, and see [where] it takes us.”

The immediate fan reaction to the injury news was to suggest whether Arsenal might need to prioritise the signing of a new striker in the January transfer window, or at least a winger to allow a player like Gabriel Martinelli to play centrally more often.

But Arteta insisted that whether Arsenal change their transfer strategy isn’t decided yet, and it will depend on learning more about Jesus’ period of absence.

“What it affects is who we are as a team because he gives us so much,” Artea began. “So what we can do after that, when we know the timescale [of his recovery] and when we can have him back, we will look at the options and try to make the right decision.”

Arsenal have been heavily linked with moves for wingers and midfielders going into the January transfer window, and perhaps Jesus’ injury pushes the signing of a forward to the forefront of their plans.