ARSENAL striker Gabriel Jesus is set to fly to Brazil for international duty – despite being injured.
The 26-year-old picked up a knock during Arsenal’s Champions League clash with Sevilla last month.
SunSport recently revealed that the Gunners do not expect him to be back until December as they do not want to risk aggravating the hamstring issue.
However, Jesus was called up to the Brazil national team this week for two upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
Mikel Arteta subsequently revealed that the striker is “far from” ready to train properly, let alone play.
The Spaniard told ESPN: “I don’t know, I’m going to talk to the doctors and him, because he didn’t do any training with us.
Read More on Football
“He’s far from working with the team, but it’s an internal communication between the club and the national team. The first intention is always to seek the best for the player.”
Despite his injury, Jesus is still expected to travel to South America for international duty.
According to ESPN, Brazil officials want him to be assessed by Fernando Diniz and his medical team.
And if he is deemed not fit enough to play, the striker could be cut from the squad and forced to fly 5,000 miles straight back to London.
Most read in Football
Discussing his squad selection earlier this week, Diniz said: “We’re going to bring Gabriel in to find out the real conditions, because we believe he can be fit enough to play.
“We have 24 players on the list, and if something happens to him we won’t need to change the squad.”
Jesus was absent from the Arsenal squad as the Gunners cruised to a 3-1 win over Burnley on Saturday.
He has been limited to just seven Premier League appearances this season due to injury.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
