By ISAAN KHAN, REPORTER
Published: 05:49 EST, 12 December 2025 | Updated: 05:49 EST, 12 December 2025
Mikel Arteta has challenged Gabriel Jesus to become Arsenal's No1 striker after his 11-month comeback from knee surgery.
The Brazilian came off the bench in the Gunners' 3-0 victory over Club Bruges on Wednesday to play for the first time in 332 days having suffered a torn ACL.
It comes as Viktor Gyokeres has struggled to make an impact on his return from a hamstring injury, while Kai Havertz is still sidelined.
When asked whether Jesus can look to become the north London club's main man up front, Arteta said: 'Yes, a player of his quality, a player that has given us so much. He comes with the energy that he came with the other day. He's certainly a player that has to be pushing and aiming for that, that's for sure.'
He also refuted any suggestion that Jesus would be sold in January, adding: 'I don't consider that, especially with the situation that we have right now.
'I think Gabi has a lot to offer to the team and he's proven that straight away in the first minutes that he was available to play.
Mikel Arteta has challenged Gabriel Jesus to become Arsenal's No1 striker after his injury
Jesus came off the bench in Arsenal's victory over Club Bruges for the first time in 332 days
'He's put so much in to be in this position again and now his focus is to be with us.'
Meanwhile, William Saliba is currently not training with the team and is a major doubt for Saturday's Premier League match against Wolves.
He suffered an ankle injury in training before the Chelsea draw on November 30 and has since missed a further three matches.
Arteta said: 'Yeah, it was something quite small. It came from an ankle injury that he had, and then he started to modify the way he was running and he started to overload an area, which is something common.
'But at some point, it became uncomfortable to continue training and playing, and we had to stop.
'He looks better but we have to wait and see if it's enough for him to be able to train with the team.'