The Brazil international has struggled with injuries throughout his time at the Emirates Stadium but made strides in this summer's preseason tour to prove his fitness levels were up there with the rest of the squad. Manager Mikel Arteta even highlighted the star's progress after their 2-1 victory over Erik ten Hag's Manchester United, in which he scored the equaliser.
"He looks really good," he claimed earlier in the summer. "He looks really sharp. He has changed a lot of things over the summer. He has come in top condition again. And when you have that baseline, other things can be built, but without that foundation, you don't have a player.
"He needs to be in that condition to get the best out of him. He has realised that. And I'm really happy with what he's shown today again. The way he looks, his rhythm, his sharpness, the way he is moving. You can see in his eyes as well that there is again some spark there because he has got now a point to prove."
Arteta had even hailed Jesus following last weekend's 2-0 win over Wolves in their Premier League opener, claiming that his side had a number of talented attacking threats and that depth wouldn't be an issue. He told talkSPORT: "I have faith in Kai [Havertz], we have faith in [Gabriel Jesus], Leandro [Trossard] has played in that position.
"So we have different qualities in there, and the best thing we can do is trust our players and try to improve them. They are so good and so willing and that's what we focus on."
There have been constant calls for Arteta to bring in a new attacking option this summer, having not signed a single attack-minded player since Leandro Trossard arrived in January last year, but the Spaniard and his players have consistently denied their need for a traditional centre-forward.
Whether this changes their mind is unclear, but Jesus, according to Teamnewsandtix, will now likely join Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kieran Tierney in the injury room as the Gunners head to the Midlands, where they'll face a tough Aston Villa side who beat them twice last season, including the brutal 2-0 late defeat that saw them slip up in the title race against Manchester City.
0 Comments