**Mikel Arteta has backed Gabriel Jesus to still have a big impact for Arsenal this season having recently returned to team training.**
Jesus has been out for ten months because of an ACL injury but is closing in on a long awaited return to action.
“I don’t know, now it’s about making the steps day by day in a different surrounding,” Arteta said when asked when Jesus could play for the Gunners again.
“Obviously he’s been doing everything on his own, now he’s got players around him, very competitive players around him, and see how he copes with that.
“But he’s full of energy, I love the reaction of all his teammates when he first joined us, and yeah, great to have him back.
“(He is) a player that is very unpredictable, full of energy, super competitive. A player that comes from a context of difficulty in the last few seasons for various nasty injuries.
“So the level of hunger, desire that he’s going to bring to the team is going to be amazing. So I’m thrilled to have him.
“I think he’s going to add something extra to the team that we don’t have. And (now) make sure that very soon we see him on that pitch making an impact for the team.”
Jesus has been linked with a move away from the Gunners but Arteta says he sees his future at Arsenal, despite having Viktor Gyokeres and Kai Havertz also in the squad.
“Yes, because we haven’t had them (Gyokeres and Havertz),” he said.
“And now we don’t have Victor (through injury) and we haven’t had Kai again for three months or many forwards.
“And unfortunately, that’s becoming something that consistently is happening. So we need those options and what an option to have with Gabby.”
Arteta also says he hopes to have several of his injured players back after the international break.
“Some of them, all of them, I don’t know,” he said.
“There are a lot of things that have to happen in the next two weeks, and everything has to be perfect, but I think we’ll be very close with most of them to be in a really strong position.”