Takehiro Tomiyasu is available for selection again, whilst Emile Smith Rowe rejoined the squad in training this week ahead of Arsenal’s clash with Brighton.
With the exception of longer-term absentees Gabriel Jesus and Reiss Nelson, Arsenal are slowly whittling down their list of injury sufferers at the moment.
Oleksandr Zinchenko returned to action against West Ham, and Takehiro Tomiyasu is now reportedly available for selection too.
“Yeah, [Tomiyasu] is getting closer and closer,” Mikel Arteta confirmed on Friday. “He’s been training with us. So he’s available.”
Then there’s Emile Smith Rowe, who has been out for a while now but appears to be on the verge of a comeback.
The midfielder could be seen in training photos on Friday, and again Arteta had a positive update in his press conference.
“Very much,” Arteta responded when asked if Smith Rowe was close to making a matchday squad. “He’s made some big steps in the last week or so, took part in a few training sessions lately, and he’s looking good.”
The Brighton game has presumably arrived too soon for Smith Rowe to be involved in the squad, but perhaps the game against Oxford United on Monday, January 9th could be the perfect opportunity to reintroduce the England international.
At this stage, we don’t have detailed timelines on the recoveries of Nelson and Jesus. Arteta recently confirmed that Nelson would be out for “weeks”, but he was no more specific than that.
Media reports suggested Jesus was set to miss around three months, so given his surgery was at the start of December, it’s probably safe to assume he’ll be back in March if all goes well. But it could easily be earlier or later.