Arsenal boss Unai Emery has revealed that Laurent Koscielny is closing in on a return to competitive action.
Koscielny has been on the sidelines since rupturing his Achilles in the Europa League semi-final second leg against Atletico Madrid in May.
The 33-year-old has been training with the Gunners for the last month, however, and Emery has said that the club captain could feature for Arsenal Under-23s at the start of next week.
"He started to train with us, every day, one month ago," Emery told reporters. "The process with him in this international break is to finish training with us every day to start playing, little by little.
"First, our idea is to start with the Under-23s. He is well, with good performances, good feeling and I think he is close to also playing with us.
"But the first idea is, and maybe on Monday, he can play with the Under-23s. We are going to decide on Saturday the plan with him, but we are thinking for him to start to take minutes."
Koscielny will see his contract with Arsenal expire at the end of next season.
Matt Law
