Mikel Arteta says ‘massive’ Arsenal is available to start at Sheffield United

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed that Gabriel Jesus is “fit enough” to be starting at present.

However, the Gunners boss stressed that whether the striker could last the full 90 minutes is “something different”.

Arteta was speaking to the Arsenal media team at Thursday’s pre-match presser ahead of Monday night’s trip to Sheffield United.

Jesus has not played since January 30 due to a knee issue, and he was an unused substitute in Saturday’s win over Newcastle United.

Arsenal cruised to a 4-1 victory against the Magpies and Arteta opted not to risk the Brazil international with the points safe.

The Gunners boss was asked whether Jesus was ready to start and he replied: “Well he’s fit enough, but knowing how long he will last is something different probably.

“We didn’t want to take any risks after the result that we had against Newcastle.

“Obviously we need him fit. He’s a massive player for us and we want to make sure that now we load the players in the right way.”

Mikel Arteta says Gabriel Jesus summer surgery went well and he shouldn’t need another

Arsenal will look to manage Jesus’ minutes throughout the run-in to avoid any more flare-ups of his knee issues.

According to the Daily Mail, the 26-year-old has suffered with fluid in the knee, an issue which needs attention in between games.

However, Arteta insists that the operation Jesus had in the summer did work, and that the player shouldn’t need another one at the end of this season.

As per Charleswatts.football, the current issue is that “he got a knock in another area that caused a different kind of injury, so it wasn’t related to the first one”.

It’s good to hear that Jesus is fine to start, but it looks as though he’ll probably not be completing 90 minutes very often between now and the end of the season.

Luckily, Arsenal seem to be coping well enough without Jesus, and with so much at stake this season, the strength in depth is there with regards to getting goals.