Arsenal boost as Jesus hints he's ditched crutches on Instagram

GABRIEL JESUS hinted that he has ditched his crutches in his latest Instagram post.

The Arsenal star has been out of action since the World Cup after injuring his knee on Brazil duty.

Jesus, 25, was subsequently spotted returning to the Gunners' training ground on crutches.

But in his latest Insta story, he appeared to wave them goodbye.

The forward posted a snap of himself holding the crutches down to one side.

He captioned it "Liberdade cantou" - meaning "Freedom sang" in English.

Since his serious injury, Jesus has been rehabbing in the gym.

Prior to the World Cup, the former Manchester City star scored five goals and laid on a further seven assists in 20 outings for the Gunners.

He is not expected to return to action until late February at the very earliest.

Ahead of Arsenal's Boxing Day clash with West Ham, boss Mikel Arteta hinted that his side could enter the market for a Jesus replacement.

He said: "With Gabi it's difficult to put a time frame. I never gave a date. I said that we don't know.

"It's going to take some time for sure. He's gone through surgery and that tells you the extent of the injury.

"We will be in the market always active and we will assess the biggest opportunities that we have."

The Gunners so far haven't struggled in Jesus' absence, winning both matches since he went down.

Arsenal beat West Ham 3-1 in their first match back from the World Cup break, before then winning 4-2 at Brighton - with Jesus' understudy Eddie Nketiah scoring in both matches.