Gabriel Jesus has not played for Arsenal since January
Arsenal Football Newsletter
Mikel Arteta believes Gabriel Jesus will bring “something extra” to Arsenal and insists the striker will have a role to play when he returns from injury.
Jesus suffered a serious knee injury in January and was forced to undergo surgery.
The striker has been working his way back to full fitness and on Thursday he took part in full training for the first time.
Since Jesus’ injury, Arsenal have bolstered their forward options by signing Viktor Gyokeres for around £60million from Sporting.
It means Jesus will battle Gyokeres and Kai Havertz for minutes when he returns - but Arteta believes the Brazilian still has a place in the squad.
“[He is] a player that is very unpredictable, full of energy, super competitive, a player that comes from a context of difficulty in the last few seasons for various nasty injuries,” said Arteta.
“So the level of hunger and desire that he’s going to bring to the team is going to be amazing.
“So I’m thrilled to have him, I think he’s going to add something extra to the team that we don’t have and make sure that very soon we see him on that pitch making an impact for the team.
“We haven’t had them [all fit] and now we don’t have Viktor, and we haven’t had Kai again for three months or many forwards, and unfortunately that’s becoming something that consistently is happening. So we need those options, and what an option to have with Gabi.”
Jesus has been working hard on his recovery, returning to his native Brazil for the part of the process.
Read More
Arsenal dealt blow as Arteta delivers Gyokeres injury update
The Best FIFA Football Awards 2025 nominees in full
Henry makes 'painful' Champions League prediction about former club
The best destinations and activities to book this winter
Arteta is unsure when the striker will be back in action as he has only just started training with his team-mates.
“Now is about making the steps day by day in a different surrounding,” he said.
“Obviously, he’s been doing everything on his own; now he’s got players around him, very competitive players around him, and see how he copes with that.
“But he’s full of energy, I love the reaction of all his team-mates when he first joined us and yeah, great to have him back.”