£72.5m wasted: Arteta must cash in on Arsenal dud who earns more than Saka & Martinelli without doing anything reasonable

However, he appears to have lost his goalscoring touch during the opening months of the new season, failing to score a single goal during the opening eight games he’s featured in throughout all competitions.

Jesus, who cost the Gunners a sizeable £45m from Pep Guardiola’s City back in the summer of 2022, started the meeting with Southampton on Saturday, but once again failed to impress, subsequently being replaced on the hour mark.

Jesus' stats vs Southampton

Statistics

Tally

Minutes played

60

Touches

20

Passes completed

9/13 (69%)

Possession lost

4x

Shots taken

3

Times caught offside

1

Aerial duels won

0/1

Stats via SofaScore

He could only muster 20 touches, completing just nine passes throughout the encounter, whilst also giving possession away four times - looking wasteful in the final third.

You would undoubtedly expect higher quality from a player who currently earns a reported £265k-per-week, a huge chunk more than Saka and Martinelli, who only earn £195k-per-week and £180k-per-week respectively.

Gabriel Jesus Arsenal

When combining his huge earnings alongside his big-money transfer fee, he's already cost the club a whopping £72.5m, which works out to £3.8m per goal he’s scored during his time at the Emirates.

Given his huge earnings and lack of impact in recent times, Arteta could look to offload the Brazilian and identify a more effective number nine that could catapult his side to a league title this season.

mikel-arteta-arsenal-premier-league

A consistent and clinical number nine is what the Spaniard has been crying out for in recent years, with Jesus evidently not the man to fill that void, potentially seeing the Spaniard brutally parting ways with the striker to allow for added investment in the final third.