Arsenal reportedly have growing hope of involving Bukayo Saka in the matchday squad for their game against Fulham.
Saka has spent the last three months recovering from hamstring surgery, missing 19 matches across all competitions.
As the player approaches 100 days since sustaining his injury against Crystal Palace in late December, a return reputedly could come as soon as next week.
There are no Premier League matches this weekend as several clubs are playing in the FA Cup quarter-finals, but there is a full round of midweek fixtures across Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
The former is when Arsenal host Fulham at the Emirates Stadium, and that could be where Saka makes a long-awaited return.
Charles Watts claims in his CaughtOffsidecolumn that is when the winger could potentially return.
It states that the player has spent the international break stepping up his work with the ball.
As such, there is seemingly a growing belief Saka may be in the matchday squad.
A return for that match would come precisely a week before the first leg of Arsenal's Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid in north London.
In between those two midweek matches is another Premier League game at Everton.
Judging by how Gabriel Martinelli just returned from a hamstring injury, if Saka can feature as a substitute against Fulham and Everton, the winger may be in line to start against Madrid.
Martinelli, surprisingly, was in the squad to play Manchester United earlier this month and played just over half an hour at Old Trafford before featuring as a late substitute in the second leg against PSV three days later.
After those combined 45 minutes, the winger started against Chelsea, playing the best part of 80 minutes.
Martinelli, however, was only out for a month, a third of the time Saka has been absent.
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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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