THE season hasn’t even kicked off yet, and already Arsenal fans have been rocked by the news that Gabriel Jesus will be sidelined for “at least a few weeks” after undergoing “a little procedure” on his knee.

The Brazilian striker was a notable absentee during the Gunners’ final pre-season outing last night (Wednesday) when they beat Monaco on penalties to win the Emirates Cup.

But that winning feeling didn’t last long as Mikel Arteta revealed after the game that his preparations ahead of the new campaign have been dealt “a big blow”.

At the very least Jesus has been ruled out of Arsenal’s opening Premier League games at home to Nottingham Forest and away to Crystal Palace, while Fulham’s visit to the Emirates Stadium could also come too soon for the forward as the club takes a cautious approach to getting the 26-year-old back to full fitness.

“Unfortunately he had a little procedure this morning,” said Arteta.

“He’s had some discomfort in his knee that caused him some issues, so they had to go in and resolve it. It’s not something major but he’s going to be out for a few weeks I think.

“It’s a big blow because we had him back to his best, especially with the way he played against Barcelona, and he was in good condition, but unfortunately we lost him. We had to look at it and we had to make a decision, and the best one is to protect the player and get him back as quick as possible. We decided to do it.”

The Arsenal boss added that Jesus’s latest setback was related to a previous knee injury suffered during last winter’s World Cup, which forced him to miss most of the second half of the season.

Quizzed on whether or not Jesus’s injury changes any transfer plans with Folarin Balogun – who is expected to leave Arsenal this month – Arteta added: “The plan with Flo doesn’t change at all, but unfortunately, with Gabby, we’re not going to have him. We have other options to play with different qualities of players, so we will adapt.”

Those other options are expected to see Eddie Nketiah accept the responsibility of leading the Gunners’ frontline again – just like he did last season when Jesus was injured – starting this Sunday when Arsenal take on Manchester City in the Community Shield at Wembley. Nketiah played the full 90 minutes against Monaco, and grabbed the equaliser after Youssouf Fofana had given the visitors the lead.

With the game ending 1-1, it was left to penalties to decide the destiny of the Emirates Cup.

Arsenal managed to convert all five of their efforts, with Martin Odegaard, Jorginho, Kai Havertz, Fabio Vieira and Gabriel all scoring. Aaron Ramsdale also played his part in the 5-4 victory as he saved Takumi Minamino’s spotkick to ensure the trophy stayed in north London.