Arteta confirms major Arsenal injury blow ahead of Community Shield vs Man City

Gabriel Jesus will miss the opening weeks of Arsenal’s new season after undergoing a knee procedure, manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed.

Jesus was left out of the Arsenal squad for their final pre-season friendly against Monaco after sustaining a knee injury.

Mikel Arteta’s side finished their preparations with a 1-1 draw at the Emirates on Wednesday night, Eddie Nketiah cancelling out Youssouf Fofana’s first-half opener. The Gunners boss was without his star striker, however, with Jesus not named in the matchday squad.

The 26-year-old has been in scintillating form during pre-season but is now a doubt for Sunday’s Community Shield meeting with Manchester City. Folarin Balogun was also not included as he is recovering from an issue of his own.

Following the release of Wednesday night’s team, the official Arsenal Twitter account wrote: “Gabby Jesus misses tonight’s game due to a knee issue and will be assessed.”

Prior to the clash against AS Monaco, Arsenal confirmed Jesus was to be assessed on a knee issue with Arteta now providing more clarity on his status.

“Unfortunately he had a little procedure this morning,” Arteta said when asked about Jesus. “He’s had some discomfort in his knee that caused him some issues so they had to go in. He’s going to be out for a few weeks.”

He added: “It is a big blow because we had him back to his best, especially with the way he played against Barcelona and he was in good condition but unfortunately we lost him. We had to look at it and we had to make a decision and the best one is to protect the player and get him back as quick as possible. We decided to do it.

“It’s something related to the previous injury he had and the surgery. He had some irritation in the knee and we had to get it resolved.”

Arsenal meet with City for the season’s traditional curtain raiser on Sunday afternoon, with Pep Guardiola’s side having won both the Premier League and FA Cup. Arsenal finished second in the league so take the spot usually occupied by one of the domestic champions.

While Arteta could be without Jesus, the Arsenal boss could have all three new signings fit and ready to start. Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber earned their first starts at the Emirates after joining from West Ham and Ajax respectively. Kai Havertz was introduced from the bench.

City could have a new signing of their own on show for the season opener, with Mateo Kovacic a regular feature in pre-season since his £25million move from Chelsea.

Josko Gvardiol looks set to come through the door imminently after a £77.5m fee was agreed with RB Leipzig, however his availability for Sunday’s game is uncertain.