Ethan Nwaneri is making good progress towards an Arsenal return, Mikel Arteta has revealed. The teenager is currently out with a muscle injury but may not be away for as long as first feared.

Arteta initially said that Nwaneri would miss several weeks after being taken off at half time away to Brighton at the start of the month. He is already back outside for training, though, with hopes that he will be back in action shortly.

Nwaneri had been cover for Bukayo Saka as a makeshift right-winger due to a spate of injuries across the squad. Raheem Sterling, at the time, was also recovering from a problem that left Arteta needing to improvise.

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The Nwaneri experiment looked to have been working, too, as he scored prior to being substituted on the south coast, handing Arsenal a deserved lead. Things changed after the break with Brighton pushing to find a winner after Joao Pedro's controversial penalty was converted.

Arteta's tactical ploy also worked away to Brentford just three days earlier as Arsenal overcame stubborn opposition 3-1. Nwaneri's injury prompted a rethink for Sunday's FA Cup third round tie against Manchester United.

Gabriel Jesus started on the right-wing, a spot he has played before but more commonly for Manchester City. Injury struck him down and is now likely to see Arteta left without another important player for a significant period.

It is crucial, therefore, that Nwaneri returns to bolster the options. Despite looking towards early-to-mid February, a positive update on his fitness has been given.

"He is good," Arteta said on Tuesday ahead of the visit of Tottenham. "He has started to do some work on the pitch already. He is evolving well, he is young, he is healing very, very fast so hopefully we can have him soon."

Arsenal do now have Sterling back in contention but are without serious depth in attack. Jesus being out leaves Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, and Leandro Trossard as the only three senior forwards available.

Saka and Jesus are not expected to be back for a while yet, adding to the notion that January additions are needed. "We are actively looking in the market to improve the squad," Arteta would admit. "We have been since day one.

"It would be naïve not to do that because there is always an opportunity to evolve the team and improve the squad. Especially with the circumstances we have. So yes, we are looking and let's see what we are able to do.”