Arsenal may have secured one of the signings of the summer this transfer window after the Gunners convinced Premier League winner Gabriel Jesus to reunite with Mikel Arteta in north London, leaving Manchester for the capital.
Jesus’ future at the Etihad Stadium was thrown into increased doubt when Pep Guardiola was handed Norwegian starlet Erling Haaland after the league holders invested in the former Borussia Dortmund goal machine, but City’s loss could well be a massive get for Arsenal during a summer where securing a new leading center-forward was of paramount importance.
Thus far, the Brazilian international has shown his quality in spades during the club’s pre-season program, hitting a brace against 2.Bundesliga outfit 1.FC Nürnberg before also scoring in their 2-0 win against Everton.
According to quotes sourced from The Athletic’s James McNicholas, Jesus was keen to work again under Arteta after the Arsenal manager utilized data to convince the 25-year-old that his game could reach the next level at the Emirates.
Arsenal’s data presentation helped Gabriel Jesus decide to move to London.
From Orlando, For @TheAthleticUK
— gunnerblog (@gunnerblog) July 23, 2022
“When we started to talk about the transfer it was with Edu, and I knew already then that Mikel wanted me to come to join the club. They showed me the project and everything about the club.”
“Then they showed me some stuff about my statistics and I was so surprised. They want me to come, to help, to improve as a player so, yeah, that’s why I’m here.”
“I’ve worked with (Arteta) at City so I know him a bit. He helped me a lot to improve my finishing after training sessions, that’s what I know about him. Then we talked a little bit before I joined and he explained to me the project and everything. In life you always want to do everything with a reason, that’s why I came to try to help and to learn and to win with the team.”
2JGBM77 08 July 2022, Nuremberg: Soccer: Test matches, 1. FC Nuremberg – FC Arsenal at Max Morlock Stadium. Gabriel Jesus from Arsenal. Photo: Daniel Karmann/dpa – IMPORTANT NOTE: In accordance with the requirements of the DFL Deutsche FuBball Liga and the DFB Deutscher FuBball-Bund, it is prohibited to use or have used photographs taken in the stadium and/or of the match in the form of sequence pictures and/or video-like photo series.
Already, the Arsenal fanbase has taken to Jesus like a fish to water on the back of his pre-season performances, but that may not be all that unexpected after fans were left frustrated by both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette last season.
Though PEA had historically performed for Arsenal since his move from Borussia Dortmund, the Gabonese star hit a massive dip in form in 2021-22 while Lacazette, though try as he did, could never come close to filling the void in front of goal in Auba’s place.
For Arsenal, it was paramount that the club secured a new main central striker this window, and while many originally criticized Jesus’ overall goal return at City, the reality remained that the Brazilian was a huge threat in front of goal when deployed centrally.
While under Guardiola, Jesus bagged 83-goals and added a further 34-assists across 188-appearances, giving him a total goal contributions rate of 0.62/match.
His threat as both a goalscorer and provider, mixed with his tactical versatility and ability on the ball but also his astuteness in combined operations in the forward line could make Jesus one of the most deadly strikers in the Premier League next season.
That notion will no doubt sit well with an Arsenal fanbase that can boast fond memories of Ian Wright, Dennis Bergkamp, Nicolas Anelka, Thierry Henry, Robin van Persie, and many others.
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