Arsenal star Granit Xhaka provides injury update as he steps up recovery
Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka is stepping up his recovery from the knee ligament injury he sustained in the north London derby earlier this season and is ‘feeling fitter every day’.
The 29-year-old was forced off in September’s 3-1 victory over Tottenham after Son Heung-min was barged into him, landing awkwardly on his leg, and was expected to be sidelined for around three months.
Xhaka has been doing rehabilitation work at Arsenal’s London Colney training centre but is now stepping up his fitness further in Dubai by beginning ball work.
Arsenal gave an update on Xhaka’s progress last week, saying: ‘Granit is making good progress in the initial stages of his recovery from a medial knee ligament injury sustained on September 26.
‘The current aim is for Granit to be back in full training early in the New Year.’
But the Switzerland international appears to be well ahead of progress judging by his latest Instagram post as he was put through his paces and has even started kicking the ball again.
Alongside a series of images from his latest session, Xhaka wrote: ‘Hard at work in Dubai. Feeling fitter every day.’
With seven weeks to go until the New Year, Xhaka may even fancy his chances of beginning full training before the end of 2021 in what would be a huge boost for Mikel Arteta.
The Gunners have actually performed excellently in the absence of their former skipper, winning five and drawing two of the seven Premier League matches he has missed this season – two of which were due to a suspension picked up against Manchester City.
When Xhaka picked up his injury, Arsenal were languishing in the bottom half of the table but they are now sitting in fifth place, just six points behind league leaders Chelsea.
