A surprise face was spotted at Arsenal training today after Gabriel made a swift return to action following an ankle injury.
The Brazilian centre-back is yet to feature this season after suffering an ankle injury during the final minutes of our pre-season friendly win over Manchester City in early August.
He was initially ruled out for eight weeks but there were hopes Gabriel could be back a little sooner after Arsene Wenger confirmed before the international break that the defender was ahead of schedule in his recovery.
It looks like the 25-year-old is now closing in on a swift return to action as Gabriel has been photographed taking part in training today with the rest of the first team squad at London Colney.
Photos from today’s training session ahead of the Southampton game this weekend have been published on Arsenal.com and they show Gabriel taking part in full training along with his team mates.
Wenger didn’t give any update on the South American at his pre-match press conference on Friday morning and I don’t expect Gabriel to be in contention to face the Saints on Saturday afternoon.
However, if he’s back in full training then it shouldn’t be too long before he’s available for selection. If he’s not passed fit to face Hull City next weekend then I expect the defender to be ready to face Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup on the 20th.
Here are some snaps from today’s training:
