Laurent Koscielny has completed his first full training session as he nears his Arsenal return.
Koscielny, 33, suffered a ruptured Achilles in a Europa League clash against Atletico Madrid last May, an injury that cost him his place in France’s World Cup squad.
The Gunners skipper is ahead of schedule however in his bid to return to the first-team, coming through unscathed in his first full session under Unai Emery ahead of the visit of Leicester City on Monday.
Koscielny will not be rushed back into the first-team picture, however, with Emery recently insisting the club will take no chances with his return.
Speaking on Friday, the Gunners boss said: “I think we need also to give confidence to him, to be close with us, because it was a big injury.
“But now he is getting better, he is training with us in some things and this is very positive.
”We need to be calm with him. Calm because we need after more than a month, [him to] feel first he is doing some things well, and then when he can play and do games in the training, we can think he is OK to play.”
Currently, Arsenal have only two center backs available, Rob Holdong and Shkordan Mustafi after Greek defender Sokratis suffered an injury while playing for his country in October. Koscielny’s return will be hugely welcomed especially considering he is their most experienced defender and also the Club captain.