Noni Madueke was close to making the Arsenal squad to face Sunderland on Saturday, but the Gunners ultimately opted not to risk his fitness.
Arsenal were without a number of attacking players for last weekend’s Premier League fixture against Sunderland, with Viktor Gyokeres, Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, Martin Odegaard, and Gabriel Jesus among those to miss out.
Noni Madueke was also not involved in the squad, but Simon Collings reports for The Standard that the former Chelsea winger was only a near miss.
According to Collings, Madueke was close to making the squad against Sunderland, with Arsenal only deciding late on not to risk him.
The fact that Madueke was so close to inclusion against Sunderland suggests the winger should be fit for involvement by the time the international break ends. With another 13 days until Arsenal’s next game against Spurs, there’s plenty of time for Madueke to prepare.
Collings adds that Gyokeres, Havertz, Martinelli, and Odegaard are also all pushing to be fit for the north London derby, though their involvement will depend on their progress in the coming days.
As for Jesus, the Brazilian remains unavailable despite recently resuming full training. That return to training is significant, but after 10 months out of action with an ACL injury, the striker won’t be back before December at the earliest.
If Arsenal can even get three or four attacking players back for the north London derby, that will be a huge boost ahead of a tricky period of fixtures.
After hosting Spurs, the Gunners will play Bayern Munich at home on November 26th and Chelsea away on November 30th to conclude this month’s games.