ARSENAL star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is available for the Europa League semi on Thursday night — even though he is still not fully fit after malaria.
Aubameyang has not played for the Gunners since the start of the month, having picked up the illness on international duty with Gabon.
The 31-year-old has returned to training but is still trying to build up his overall health levels.
But with Alexandre Lacazette injured and boss Mikel Arteta left with youngsters as other attacking options, Aubameyang will have no hesitation answering the call if needed against Villarreal.
His return would be a major boost to Arteta ahead of the first leg.
There is a hope the Arsenal captain’s fitness level will be enough to see him through because he played against Liverpool and Slavia Prague before being diagnosed with malaria.
Meanwhile, Stan Kroenke has REFUSED to sell Arsenal - despite fan protests and Spotify founder Daniel Ek plotting a £2.5BILLION bid.
The American billionaire, 73, released a statement which will come as a crushing blow to Gunners fans.
Kroenke has had sole ownership of Arsenal since buying out rival shareholder Alisher Usmanov three years ago.
And from his US base in Denver, Colorado, he is virtually immune to the growing hostility of Gunners fans back in London.
The statement read: “In recent days we have noted media speculation regarding a potential takeover bid for Arsenal Football Club. We remain 100 per cent committed to Arsenal and are not selling any stake in the club.
"We have not received any offer and we will not entertain any offer.
"Our ambition for Arsenal remains to compete to win the biggest trophies in the game and our focus remains on improving our competitiveness on the pitch to achieve this.