The last sighting of Theo Walcott in an Arsenal shirt was a pretty depressing one.
The 18-year-old, on as a late substitute at Goodison Park in March, left the field clutching his arm after falling heavily in the Everton penalty area. A couple of days later he had surgery to correct a troubling shoulder problem.
Walcott is much better now. The operation was a success and he is kicking a ball again after a frustrating couple of months. Now Walcott is looking forward to making his mark when the new season gets underway in August.
"It's been seven and a half weeks since the operation and everything is going well," said Walcott in an exclusive interview with Arsenal.com.
"I've started light training with the ball and running. The operation had to be done, everyone saw when it happened at Everton. It feels so much better now, I feel so good.
"I have two more days left [at the training ground] and then I'll come back two weeks before pre-season starts with Robin [van Persie] and Thierry [Henry]. So that's when my season starts. I'm really looking forward to it.
"I will be fully fit for the new season, as long as I have a good pre-season and don't pick up any injuries. I'll be raring to go. The same goes for the whole squad really."
There is no 'right' time to go under the knife but, for Walcott, his visit to the surgeon came at a particularly bad time.
Injuries to Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie had already decimated Arsenal's striking options with two months of the campaign remaining. Walcott's presence would have eased the pressure on Emmanuel Adebayor up front and given the teenager valuable match time at the top level.
But, as Walcott explained, he had no option but to cure an injury which had troubled him throughout his first full season at Arsenal.
"I played with it the whole season but it gradually got worse," he said. "It kept on popping out and it concerned me, it was always in my head that it would happen again.
"I started playing with a strapping and that wasn't comfortable at all. It helped a little bit but the operation had to be done. I couldn't play in that kind of pain.
"At some stages I was playing with one arm, effectively. I was too scared to try and push people off with my arm because it kept popping out. It wasn't nice at all."