Leandro Trossard returned to action in style against Fulham on Sunday but, after the game, Mikel Arteta revealed the player probably should have been out a lot longer with the injury he picked up against Bournemouth.

Leandro Trossard put in a record-setting display against Fulham on Sunday, becoming the first player to register three assists in the first half of an away game in Premier League history.

The Belgian’s inclusion from the start was a welcome surprise given that he had picked up an injury the week before. As Arsenal fans, we’ve become accustomed to injuries taking forever to clear up, so few held any real hope he’d be back so quickly.

After the game, Mikel Arteta lauded the player’s willingness to return to the pitch early and highlighted the positive impact it had on the team. The manager also praised the work of the medical staff in aiding the player’s recovery.

“It’s football intelligence,” Arteta said about Trossard slipping into a ‘tactically complicated’ role with the squad with ease. “He’s really clever to understand straight away what we want, what’s required. He’s executed it really well.

“When we talk about composure and finding the right pass and finding the right colour when it’s looking really blurry in the box, he’s the opposite. He got three assists and could have scored two.

“He was really impressive. Not only that, he had an injury three days ago which could have taken a week, or another 10 days, but he was willing to come back early and the doctors and medical staff did a lot of good work.

“It makes a big difference in the team. We needed him today and his contribution was superb.”

Trossard now has five assists and a goal in just 390 minutes of Premier League football as an Arsenal player. That equates to a goal or assist every 65 minutes and, of course, ignores the wonderful goal he had unfairly ruled out.