- Gabriel Jesús was carried off on a stretcher in Arsenal's defeat against Manchester United
- The Gunners will also be without Bukayo Saka for Wednesday's north London derby
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Mikel Arteta hinted that Gabriel Jesus' knee injury could accelerate Arsenal's search for an attacking player in the January transfer window.
The 27-year-old was stretchered off in the first half of Arsenal's FA Cup third round penalty shootout defeat to Manchester United on Sunday.
The suspected rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament, which will leave Jesús sidelined for months, is not the striker's first serious knee injury at the club.
Jesus underwent knee surgery in December 2022, ruling him out of Brazil's World Cup campaign. He was out for 99 days.
Since then, the Brazilian has had follow-up procedures, which has forced him to miss more games. His expected long-term absence follows that of Bukayo Saka, who is recovering from a hamstring injury.
Asked about the gap Jesus and Saka left in the team ahead of Arsenal's north London derby against Tottenham today, Arteta said: “We are obviously losing two very creative, very important and very unpredictable players for us. , so that has an impact on the team.
Gabriel Jesus suffered an ACL injury in Sunday's penalty shootout loss to Man United.
The Brazilian striker had to be carried off on a stretcher in the first half of the FA Cup match
Mikel Arteta's side have been linked with several forwards in the January transfer market
“From the start of the window and before the window we were actively looking at what we can do to plan and improve the team, impact the team, if we can.
“Obviously, Gabi's news takes the scenario to another dimension because the time period will be longer.”
His prognosis regarding Jesus' injury was gloomy.
“It doesn't look good at all,” he said.
'We need to see one more specialist, so we will probably know more information this afternoon.
'I don't want to confirm anything until we have the final report this afternoon. But we were very worried after the game and we are very worried today.”
Meanwhile, Arteta slammed social media trolls who sent disgusting insults to Kai Havertz's wife and called on the football industry to “ban” him.
Havertz missed a penalty in Sunday's defeat to Man United before his pregnant wife Sophia reposted two abhorrent messages she had received on Instagram.
Bukayo Saka is also on the sidelines after suffering a hamstring injury earlier in the season.
Kai Havertz missed several chances and a penalty in the penalty shootout loss to United
Arsenal have reported the abuse to the police and are working with specialist data company Signify to try to identify the culprits.
Arteta added: “It's incredible, honestly. We really have to do something about it, because accepting it and hiding it has terrible consequences.
'It's something we have to eradicate from the game because it is very cynical and dependent on the outcome of an action.
'That's a really serious matter. It affects me. It affects him and everyone in the industry.
'We pay a lot of attention to technology and what's next in football. What follows in football is that this should be banned. It can't happen. That's all.'
