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Gabriel Magalhaes breaks Arsenal injury silence with clear message before Monaco

Arsenal star Gabriel Magalhaes is an injury concern for their impending Champions League meeting against AS Monaco on Wednesday night (8pm).

The Gunners host the French outfit at the Emirates Stadium as they look to climb into the top-eight automatic qualifying positions of the group stage phase. Their last outing in the competition saw them produce a brilliant display in a 5-1 win over Sporting Clube de Portugal.

Gabriel was on the scoresheet that night, but has since missed the last two Premier League games with a knee injury. The weekend saw Arsenal have to settle for a point in a 1-1 draw with Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Following that game, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta provided hope of players, including Gabriel, returning to action against Monaco. "I hope [they can return]," he said.

"But it's more a question for the doctors and physios to understand where we are.

"We are missing a lot of players in the backline. The good thing is that whoever we put there they respond. They respond with a good attitude and performance."

Gabriel's latest activity on social media suggests he could be closing in on a return to action. The centre-back has shared a reel on his Instagram story which shows him taking part in a personal training session - including jumping and stretching.

Giving a general update on his squad on Tuesday, Arteta said: "We have to manage a lot of the players."

"Some of them are probably not going to be fit tomorrow, some of them are still doubts. We still have 24 hours to make those decisions and, hopefully, they're the right ones."

As well as Gabriel, Arsenal also have injury worries over full-back Jurrien Timber, midfielder Thomas Partey, summer signing Riccardo Calafiori and the versatile Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu are, meanwhile, definitely rules out with longer-term injuries.

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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023

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