Arsenal handed huge injury boost

PER MERTESACKER may have given Arsenal fans an early Christmas present.

The German defender hasn’t played a single minute of the current Premier League campaign for Arsenal after suffering a knee injury in a pre-season friendly against Lens in July.

At the time, it was thought he would be spending a number of months on the sideline.

Despite having to watch on from the stands, Mertesacker’s rehabilitation regime has been going well.

The 32-year-old posted a picture on Twitter on Friday of himself doing yoga exercises.

And it seems like a return to full training may not be too far away.

Mertesacker posted a picture on the of him packing his suitcase and tweeted: “Rehab couldn’t of gone better but now all packed and ready to come back home to the team! However, it is highly unlikely he will be fit in time to even make the bench for the game against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday (12:30pm).

The Gunners had another boost when Olivier Giroud claimed he is 100% fit. The 30-yearold has had a hit-and-miss start to the season with the team this year.

Giroud has netted three times for Arsenal this campaign despite starting just one game under Arsene Wenger.

Meanwhile, Wenger will be without Hector Bellerin for up to a month as the rightback is out with an ankle ligament injury. – Express Newspapers