Gabriel Jesus is set to undergo surgery on his knee in what is a huge blow to Arsenal.
The 25-year-old suffered suspected medial ligament damage during Brazil’s Group G defeat to Cameroon.
It ruled him out of the rest of the competition in Qatar and he flew back to England for assessment.
It is understood that he will need an operation to repair the problem with the time out depending on how he heals, with some players taking months to return to action meaning he should be part of Arsenal’s title challenge in the second half of the campaign.
Jesus scored five goals in his first nine games at the club after joining from Manchester City in the summer in a £45million deal and while the goals have stopped since, he has still played an important role in keeping them top of the Premier League heading into the mid-season break for the World Cup.
In Qatar he has come off the bench in the wins over Serbia and Switzerland before being given a start at Lusail Stadium against Cameroon as qualification to the knockout stages had been sealed.
Arsenal’s transfer plans
His injury could force Arsenal into the transfer market in January to reinforce Mikel Arteta’s attack to keep pace with the title challengers. Arteta had wanted a wide forward to freshen up his attack and add competition but Jesus has started the majority of his games as centre-forward.
Jesus has been injury-free since his arrival from City, starting in every Premier League game this season and only getting rested for the Europa League and domestic cup matches.
Brazil coach Tite described suggestions that Jesus was carrying an injury into the Cameroon game as “evil lies”.
“I don’t like hearing lies out there, evil lies,” he said. “At no time do we play for victory at the risk of a player’s peril. The liar who’s out there – because that’s the name isn’t it, the haters, right?
“We are responsible, we are personally responsible, we are ethical and it would never have happened. I didn’t want this to happen, it’s a shame, we are very sorry for Gabriel.”
