Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka is stepping up his recovery from the knee ligament injury he suffered in the north London derby this campaign and is ‘feeling fitter every day’.
The Gunners star was forced off in September’s 3-1 win over Tottenham after Son Heung-min was barged into him, landing awkwardly on his leg, and was expected to be out for around three months.
Xhaka has been doing rehabilitation work at Arsenal’s training centre but is now stepping up his fitness in Dubai by beginning ball work.
Arsenal provided 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 Swiss star appears to be ahead of progress judging by his latest Instagram post as he was put through his paces and has even started kicking the ball.
Alongside a number of images from his latest session, Xhaka wrote: ‘Hard at work in Dubai. Feeling fitter every day.’
With just seven weeks to go until the New Year, Xhaka may even begin full training before the end of 2021 in what would be a major boost for Mikel Arteta.
Though, Arsenal have performed excellently in his absence, winning five and drawing two of the seven Premier League games he has missed this campaign – two of which were due to a suspension picked up against Manchester City.
When Xhaka picked up his injury, the London side were languishing in the bottom half of the table but they are now in fifth place, only six points behind league leaders Chelsea.
