Mikel Arteta’s view of Gabriel Jesus is that the Brazilian striker “changed Arsenal’s world” following his arrival from Manchester City in the summer of 2022. With Jesus in the side, leading the team on and off the pitch, Arsenal went from top-four hopefuls to genuine title contenders in the space of just a few months.
It is an indication of how quickly Arsenal have changed, then, that their “world” has already changed again – and that it increasingly feels like Jesus is not a major part of it. Jesus was one of the driving forces behind Arsenal’s transformation but they have evolved at such a pace that he is now seemingly struggling to keep up.
On Saturday, against Nottingham Forest, Jesus started only his second Premier League game of the season so far. He produced a few moments of excitement, but it was far from enough to suggest he is now back to his best. So far this season he has scored just one goal in 16 games, and that was against Preston North End in the League Cup.
Jesus will hope to start again when Arsenal meet Sporting CP in the Champions League on Tuesday night. The likelihood, though, is that Kai Havertz will come back into the side after he was rested at the weekend.
The sight of Jesus on the bench again, on a big Champions League night, would add to the sense that he is now sliding out of the picture at Arsenal. And on this occasion, that feeling will be further exacerbated by the presence of Viktor Gyokeres on the other side. If Jesus is a player who many supporters feel is a man of Arsenal’s past, then Gyokeres is someone who many of those same fans will hope is part of their future.
Arsenal, like every big European club, are among those who have kept an eye on Gyokeres. How could they not admire the Sporting forward? This is a player who has been butchering defences in Portugal since the summer of 2023, and who struck a hat-trick against City earlier this month. In 19 club games this season, he has scored 24 goals.
Curiously, Arteta was in no mood to answer questions about Gyokeres at his pre-match press conference on Monday night. “I understand the question,” he said. “But they have a lot of individual qualities.”
Would Gyokeres represent an upgrade on Jesus? It is a fair question to ask, and one that many within Arsenal must have considered in recent months when the future of Jesus has appeared increasingly unclear.
There are two primary reasons for the Brazilian’s apparent slide down the pecking order. Firstly, his fitness issues. Secondly, the unexpected blossoming of Havertz into a more complete and effective centre-forward than anyone had expected.
With regard to his fitness, many of his problems go back to the knee injury he suffered at the World Cup in Qatar in 2022. Jesus had surgery to fix the problem, missed three months of action, and then hurt his knee again in the summer of 2023. Another operation was required. Earlier this year, he admitted: “I don’t remember the last time I played football without pain.”
Jesus ended last season with four league goals in 27 appearances, his worst return since moving to City in the 2016/17 campaign. He was on the pitch for just 43 per cent of Arsenal’s league season.
This summer was therefore crucial for him, to rebuild some of the physical foundations that had been shaken over the previous 18 months. He trained hard during the break, even returning to former club Palmeiras to use the facilities there. He then shone in pre-season, impressing in a series of friendlies.
It felt typical of his misfortune, then, that Jesus was injured again after just one competitive match. This time, a groin problem. It was not major, but it was enough to once again disrupt his rhythm.
While Jesus has been scrambling to get fit, Havertz has made the central attacking position his own. Originally signed as a midfield player, the German has shown himself to be infinitely better as a striker and is Arsenal’s top scorer this season with seven goals.
Jesus will be 28 at the end of this season, when he will have two years remaining on his contract. He is currently one of Arsenal’s best-paid players and, on current form, the club’s executives are not seeing the value for money they would expect. The likes of Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko, the RB Leipzig striker Arsenal targeted in the summer, loom large on the horizon as possible alternatives.
Jesus joined Arsenal from City to be the club’s main figure, in the present and the future. For a time, he performed that role to spectacular effect. But he now faces a serious battle to prove he can still be that leader and focal point, and to show he is so much more than yesterday’s man.
