Mikel Arteta hinted Gabriel Jesus’s knee injury could accelerate Arsenal’s search for an attacking player in the January transfer window.

The 27-year-old went off on a stretcher in the first half of Arsenal’s FA Cup third-round penalty shoutout defeat to Manchester United on Sunday.

The suspected ACL tear, which is set to see Jesus sidelined for months, is not the forward’s first serious knee injury at the club.

Jesus had knee surgery in December 2022, ruling him out of Brazil's World Cup campaign. He was out for 99 days.

Since then, the Brazilian has had follow-up procedures, causing him to miss further matches. His expected long-term absence adds to that of Bukayo Saka, who is recovering from a hamstring injury.

When asked about the gap left in the squad by Jesus and Saka ahead of Arsenal’s north London derby against Tottenham today, Arteta said: ‘Obviously we are losing two very creative, very important, very unpredictable players for us, so that has an impact on the team.

‘From the start of the window and before the window we were actively looking at what we can do to plan and improve the squad, impact the squad, if we can.

‘Obviously the news of Gabi, that takes the scenario to another dimension as well because the time frame will be longer.’

His prognosis on Jesus’s injury was bleak.

‘It’s not looking good at all,’ he said.

‘We need to review one more specialist, so we will probably know more information this afternoon.

‘I don’t want to confirm anything until we have the final report this afternoon. But we were very worried after the game, and we are very worried today.’

Meanwhile, Arteta blasted social media trolls who sent sickening abuse to Kai Havertz’s wife, calling on the football industry to make it ‘prohibited’.

Havertz missed a penalty in Sunday’s defeat to Man United before his pregnant wife, Sophia, reposted two abhorrent messages she had received on Instagram.

Arsenal have reported the abuse to the police and are working with specialist data firm Signify to try to identify the culprits.

Arteta added: ‘It’s incredible, honestly. We really have to do something about it, because accepting that and hiding this has terrible consequences.

‘It’s something we have to eradicate from the game because it’s so cynical and dependent to a result of an action.

‘That’s a really serious matter. It affects me. It affects him and everybody that is in the industry.

‘We put a lot of attention on technology and what is next in football. What is next in football is that this should be prohibited. It cannot happen. That’s it.’