Gabriel Martinelli is expected to be back from his hamstring injury to face Manchester City, despite being left out by Brazil.

Late last week, Arsenal fans believed they’d spotted a hint on Gabriel Martinelli’s injury prognosis when the winger was left out of the Brazil squad for the October international break.

Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Magalhaes were both called up by Brazil, with the team set to face Venezuela and Uruguay on October 12th and 17th. But Martinelli won’t be involved with his national team this time.

The good news is that those injury fears appear premature.

The Daily Mail report that Martinelli is expected to return from his hamstring injury in time to face Manchester City on October 8th, before the break.

That would certainly be a boost, and not just because the 22-year-old will be available to face the reigning Premier League champions.

Arsenal will also be preparing to face Chelsea and Sevilla away from home immediately after returning from the internationals.

If Martinelli is already fit before the break, having not been called up by Brazil, he should be able to fully focus on being ready for those two games.

Arsenal still have a few games to get through before that, facing Brentford in the League Cup on Wednesday before taking on Bournemouth and RC Lens in further away games over the next fortnight.