Theo Walcott injury update: Arsene Wenger confirms winger will return to first-team training next week

Walcott has not played since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in January

Serge Gnabry and Theo Walcott (Getty Images)

Arsene Wenger confirmed that Jack Wilshere will be available for Arsenal’s Champions League Group D encounter against Galatasaray on Wednesday, but it was a medical update on another player that will have the Gunners faithful excited the most.

Wenger confirmed that England winger Theo Walcott will return to first team training next week as he steps up his recovery from a serious knee injury. Walcott ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in the 2-0 victory over Tottenham in the FA Cup third round in January, and was forced to miss the entire second half of the season as well as the World Cup.

The 25-year-old returned to light training at the start of the season, and Wenger confirmed that along with young German midfielder Serge Gnabry, he will re-join the first-team from next week with a view to returning after the international break.

“Walcott and Gnabry will be joining in training next week,” Wenger said at a pre-match press conference after confirming Wilshere is available to play tomorrow night.

However, Wenger did confirm that both Aaron Ramsey and Mikel Arteta are not expected to play again before the international break, meaning they will miss both the Galatasaray clash and the trip to Chelsea on Sunday in a crucial Premier league encounter that will bring haunting memories back to the Arsenal squad and their French manager.

Celebrating his 1,000th match in charge of Arsenal, Wenger’s smile soon turned to despair as he saw Kieran Gibbs wrongly sent-off for an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain hand ball along with the embarrassment of losing 6-0 at Stamford Bridge last season.

Theo Walcott will return to Arsenal training next week (Getty Images)

The match will be too early for Walcott to feature in, but providing his return goes seamlessly, he could feature in the first match after the international break when Hull travel to the Emirates in a repeat of the FA Cup on 18 October. The Gunners take on Anderlecht the following week in the first of two back-to-back matches against the Belgian side, and they’ll hope to have three points under their belt by the time the match comes around by getting a result against Galatasaray on Wednesday.