Arsenal fans moan following Gabriel Jesus injury

Arsenal's Gabriel Jesus sidelined with knee injury, missing season start, as fans and Arteta express concern.

Gabriel Jesus will miss the opening weeks of the season after undergoing a procedure to fix an issue with his knee. (Photo credit: Sky Sports)

Arsenal fans woke up to the reality that striker Gabriel Jesus will miss the start of the Premier League season following Mikel Arteta's confirmation that the Brazilian went under the knife to correct a problem with his knee.

The Brazil forward has undergone a "procedure" on his knee, Arteta said after Arsenal's penalty shootout win over Monaco to secure the Emirates Cup on Wednesday. This is certainly the last news Arsenal fans want to read.

"Unfortunately, he had a little procedure this morning," Arteta said. "He's had some discomfort in his knee that caused him some issues, so they had to go in. It's not something major, but he's going to be out for a few weeks.

"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 also revealed Jesus' 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.

"He had some irritation in the knee, and we had to get it resolved," Arteta added.

The 26-year-old started Arsenal's previous pre-season friendly, a 5-3 win over Barcelona on Thursday in the US, and played 79 minutes before being singled out for praise by Arteta after the game.

Arsenal will negotiate with Manchester City on Sunday for the traditional season curtain-raiser - the community shield game and while Gabriel Jesus would miss out, Arsenal would hope the Shield cup brings them some comfort.