Arsenal are bloody hopeful that Bukayo Saka will be back in contention soon ahead of a season-defining showdown against those Real Madrid muppets.
The England international suffered a proper nasty hamstring injury in late December and has been out since, the poor lad.
Since Saka was ruled out, the Gunners have crashed out of both domestic cup competitions like a bunch of mugs and slipped well behind Liverpool in the Premier League title race. Absolutely shambolic.
The only trophy they have a realistic chance of winning is the Champions League, but they're up against Real Madrid. Typical, innit?
If Saka is fit, their chances of progress would improve drastically. He's a proper baller.
Will Saka be fit to face Real Madrid?
As it stands, it's looking likely Saka will be involved in some way, and thank fuck for that.
Arsenal will play the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Los Blancos on April 8 at home before heading to the Bernabeu on April 16 for the return tie. They better not bottle it.
Mikel Arteta will be hoping to have Saka back and available, and judging by his latest comments, that's more than possible. About time we had some good news.
Speaking ahead of the Gunners' 1-0 win over Chelsea, the Spaniard was asked if his star man would be fit after the international break. He said: "Yes, he's got a good chance."
"He is going to be here [at the Arsenal training ground], hopefully more with the ball at his feet than he has had. That will mean he's passing the ball and shooting and running and everything. He's done quite a lot already on the pitch working on his own."
"Next, we need to arrange it with people around him in a more competitive training session and see how he goes with that. He's getting closer, he's stepping up and making very good progress, I would say."
"So, let's see when we start to throw him in with the team how he reacts and how fit he can get quickly." Fingers crossed, mate.
Since having surgery to repair his hamstring, the road to recovery has been long for Saka. It's been a proper slog.
He joined the rest of his teammates for their warm-weather training camp earlier this year. However, Saka took no part in team training. Instead, he was in the gym going through intense rehabilitation, and after three months out, he's nearing a return. About bloody time.
