Former Arsenal captain Granit Xhaka has sent his heartfelt best wishes to Gabriel Jesus after the Brazilian suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury against Manchester United at the weekend.

The incident was rather innocuous in its nature as Jesus challenged for the ball on the edge of the penalty area. However, with both players on the ground, the striker stayed on the turf clutching his knee.

Paramedics brought out a stretcher to carry off the pitch and admitted after the match that the injury seemed serious. In a statement posted to social media earlier today,

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"Wishing you all the best with your recovery, Gabby," the social media post from official account began. "Further to being substituted with an injury during our match with on Sunday, has received extensive assessments, scans and specialist reviews which have confirmed that he has sustained an injury to the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

"Gabby will undergo surgery in the coming days and will soon begin his recovery and rehabilitation programme. We will continue to keep everyone updated with Gabby’s recovery, with everyone at the club fully focused on supporting Gabby to ensure he is back to full fitness as soon as possible."

Replying to the post Xhaka, who now plays for Bayer Leverkusen, wrote: "Stay strong bro," accompanied with a love heart emoji. An ACL issue is arguably the worst injury that a player can sustain.

In years gone by, this injury used to be a career-ending one but thanks to the advances in modern medicine and physiotherapy, players recover. However, Jesus will definitely miss the remainder of this season and may be out for a good chunk of the next campaign too.

It is a bitter blow for Jesus who had stepped up to the plate in recent weeks, adding goals to his game. This long-term injury for the striker will only increase calls for Arsenal to sign a centre-forward in the January transfer window.