Mikel Arteta is impressed with Gabriel Jesus’ condition ahead of the new season, as the striker appears to be a renewed player.
Jesus has been plagued by injuries and fitness issues for much of his time at Arsenal.
His goal output has also been underwhelming, leading fans to call for the club to sign a new striker.
Jesus has admitted that scoring has never been his primary strength, but as Arsenal’s main forward, goals are expected from him.
However, this season could be different and significantly better, as the Brazilian has returned from his break in excellent shape.
Arteta noticed this when the players returned, and the manager seems confident that this could be the year Jesus truly excels.
He said after the Gunners’ win against Bayer Leverkusen, as quoted by The Sun:
“When I saw him after talking to him at the end of the season it was something different. I could sense it.
“His energy was different, the way he looks is different, the way he’s moving is different and he really wants it.
“Now it’s a question of finding the consistency and doing it in any context, any situation, any day, every three days, for 90 minutes, for 30 minutes, for 70 minutes. But he looks good.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
Jesus is one of our most important players and he needs to begin to show that we can trust him, and his performance can drown out the noise calling for a new frontman.
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He was good – but for how long when the season gets going for real?
As the article mentions, Jesus has a pretty poor injury record. In his two seasons at Arsenal, he’s managed 53 PL games (scoring only 15 goals). Now, he may have put that injury record (and, hopefully, the awful scoring stats – for a striker – as well) behind him but should Arsenal rely upon a “maybe” in such an important season?
The article says “… his performance [against BL] can drown out the noise calling for a new frontman.”, but should we really place that much reliance on a summer pre-season friendly?
Surely, performances on wet, cold, winter nights in, say, Leicester or Newcastle, are a better guide. The problem is that if he isn’t as good then as against BL, or he isn’t there at all, it will be too late to bring in a new frontman, won’t it.