ARSENAL could soon benefit from a ‘like a new signing’ boost in their quest to bring the Premier League trophy to the Emirates Stadium after positive signals from Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus.

Gunners fans watched in horror as their summer acquisition from Manchester City was crocked with a knee injury while playing a dead rubber game for his country at the winter World Cup in Qatar. While not weighing in with goals in every match he played for Arsenal, his involvement in the squad had helped created a winning aura around Mikel Arteta’s surprise championship chasers.

With only Eddie Nketiah selected to lead the line in his absence and the deputy not managing to find the back of the net in any of the last five matches, there are daily updates being fed back to Arteta on when Gabriel Jesus may return to first team duty – and the news is getting more positive.

“He’s progressing really well, training more and more on the field,” Arteta said today, ahead of this weekend’s trip to Leicester City. ” The knee’s not reacting, so really positive.”

The manager added: “We want to have him as quickly as possible, but are respect as much as possible the timeframe that we got from the doctors and the specialists. But he’s really pushing the boundaries right now.
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Meanwhile, Thomas Partey looks like he will be able to play some role in the game against Brendan Rodgers’ foxes.

“Obviously, there is a question mark on Thomas,” said Arteta. “He hasn’t trained much, but it looks like he could be available, so let’s see how he trains today.”

After an injury-plagued start to life at Arsenal, Partey has emerged as a key component of Arteta’s title tilt and has formed a tough partnership to once maligned Granit Xhaka in the centre of the park. Jorginho has not disappointed by filling in for Partey in the two games the Ghana international has missed through injury but the boss is keen to get his first choice pairing back on the field.

Arsenal beat Leicester 4-2 at Ashburton Grove earlier in the season but this was during a loss-peppered start to the season suffered by the visitors. They have since been revived and had won three in a row before defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford last Sunday.