Gabriel Jesus closing in on Arsenal return after long-term ACL absence as Mikel Arteta confirms appearance in behind closed doors friendly

Forward Jesus was forced off in Arsenal's FA Cup defeat to Manchester United at the start of the year, with it later emerging he had injured his ACL in his left knee. While freak injuries like this can happen at any time in football, manager Arteta felt he could have done things differently to potentially prevent this setback by not playing him as much. However, they were without Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz due to injury, so their attack was stretched thin.

The Spaniard said in May: "It's very difficult now to understand that, if I could pause the game and say, Gabriel Jesus, we brought you back to life. You know, you are doing incredibly well. You're going to now get injured, so stop. I would stop him, bring another player in and continue to play the game. Unfortunately, we cannot do this in football."

Earlier this week, Arteta hinted Jesus could play in a behind-closed-doors match, with the 28-year-old not ready for the Bayern Munich clash, a Champions League game they won 3-1 on Wednesday. When asked about the Brazilian's condition, he told reporters: "Very good. He's doing everything with the team at the moment for the last almost two weeks. We're going to give him some exposure as well internally with some games, so he gets that fitness. But he looks really good in training, and he's going to be a big addition to the team."

Then, on Friday, the Gunners boss said that Jesus and Ethan Nwaneri took part in this secret match.

"It did happen. Gabi participated, and Ethan as well, because he wanted some minutes. We took the opportunity; they wanted a bit of exposure to competition, and providing that was very positive," he added.

While Jesus - who has had an injury-blighted spell at Arsenal since moving from City in 2022 - may not be ready to face Chelsea on Sunday, Arteta hopes the likes of Leandro Trossard, Viktor Gyokeres, and Kai Havertz will be available after their own respective injury issues.

He told reporters: "There’s another test today, we have to see how he's [Trossard] feeling. It doesn't look much, so we still have a few hours and we'll have to see. We have another day tomorrow, so let's see how everybody is tomorrow."

After statement wins over Tottenham and Bayern this week, the north London team are eager to secure another one, this time away at rivals Chelsea.

Arteta said: "It's a big game, it's a big London derby, we're going to play a really good opponent, and they are in really good form. We know the challenge, we know the opportunity that we have as well on Sunday, so we are fully prepared for it. Those are statements that we are talking about every three days. After beating Spurs at home, then we have to make a statement against Bayern Munich, we've done that and now we have to go to the next one. That's where we are, we knew the importance of the week, not only that, but what is coming after three days is going to be exactly the same, nothing is going to change. But we are super motivated for the game."

Arsenal sit six points clear at the top of the Premier League ahead of their trip to second-placed Chelsea. A victory for the Blues will see that gap at the top cut to three points but a loss will see the Gunners open up a big lead at the summit. They themselves come into this game full of confidence after dismissing Barcelona 3-0 in the Champions League in midweek and going by Arteta's comments, it seems he sees them as a big threat this season.

"I think we are all there and they are there because they fully deserve to be," said the ex-midfielder. "What they have done in the last few years, I think the squad that have assembled, the numbers that they have, the amount of quality, the manager and the coaching staff that they have, it makes sense that what is happening there is very, very positive and they deserve to be there."