Paul Merson has claimed that Arsenal are not serious about returning to the top four if they do not sign Gabriel Jesus.
The Gunners are believed to have made the Brazilian their priority signing this summer as they look to fill the hole left by the departures of both Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
We still appear to be leading the race for his signature, but with the deal taking an extended amount of time to get done it feels agonisingly less likely to get done, although there is nothing at present which tells us things are fizzling out.
With our intentions to make him our new front man seemingly obvious, former Gunner Merson now believes that it would show that we aren’t serious about mounting a serious challenge for the CL places if we failed to secure his signature now.
“Arsenal must get Gabriel Jesus if they are serious about getting back into the top four,” he told DailyStar readers.
“They have got to get him. It’s that simple. Everything goes out of the window if they don’t. It doesn’t matter what else they do.”
Merson goes onto be as bold as to claim that he would ‘transform Arsenal’, bringing hunger and a bit selfishness that they need.
“I think he is good enough to transform Arsenal,” he added. “He doesn’t get the credit he deserves. Yes, he does miss chances but he never goes hiding and he’s a centre forward who is desperate to score goals. He has that hunger and a little bit of a selfish streak and you need that.”
I don’t think I’d go as far as to claim that we aren’t serious if we don’t wrap this up, because I have no doubt that we would be looking at alternatives who could well be better for what we are building under Mikel Arteta.
Jesus could well have more to offer than he has been able to show under Pep Guardiola, but at present I’m not wholly convinced that he is the perfect striker to take us to that next level. Arteta clearly believes that he is however, so at this point if the club cannot get this done, it is definitely telling.
Patrick
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The headline says the opposite of what the body of the article quotes him as saying (“I don’t think I’d go as far as to claim that we aren’t serious if we don’t wrap this up”).
Putting next season in the hands of City would not be a smart move. I hope there are alternatives being actioned in case City pull the plug or sell elsewhere.
I’m not even convinced Jesus is the right signing tbh.
Me neither, somewhat short for a number 9, unless of course we are venturing into false 9 territory.
I have long been saying exactly your point about headlines being at odds with the article.
I have many times emailled Ad PAT to say so but I am always ignored and he constantly misrepresents the articles, as PAT writes all the headlines, not only for his own articles either He is interested in clicksand sensational headlines, far more than accuracy and truth, sadly!
When they refused to sign anyone during January, it was said they have sort out the players they are looking to bring in during the summer.
As a serious team who is in need of a top striker or goal scorers, Jesus is not the answer but he’s better than what we got.
The fact that it’s taking this long shows they didn’t have him on their list before or they it wasn’t at the top of their list.
Two whole months and few days we’ve got left.just calm down and enjoy the show.
Forgive me if I take the comments of that well-known Chelsea supporter with a pinch of salt.
this
Wasn’t close to prolific at City surrounded by proven quality, so odds aren’t in his favor at Arsenal surrounded by potential and talent, but unproven.
He could be a 20 goal scorer in PL for us, or yet another weak striker bullied around the opponents goal.
Was hoping to bring in a plan B type, different from what Nketiah offers.
Then again, Plan B isn’t Arteta’s thing, he doubles down and has shown to be more stubborn than adaptive in his tactics.
I think Merson’s underlying point is that based on our tactics and lack of CL football, there’s not a single CF, who’s more highly skilled, who would willingly join this little experiment, so I think he’s actually concerned about the potential alternatives
of course, no one is suggesting that Jesus is some sort of hack, as he’s clearly a skilled player, the bigger question is does this specific player fit the tactical script moving forward….one can only hope that what has been on offer thus far is only scratching the tactical surface or we will continue to struggle for goals regardless of who comes into the fold, minus a world-class Striker
if we’re getting Jesus to lean into that piss-poor false 9 narrative that we deployed with nevergoals Laca for a brief period, then we should avoid this deal like the plague….conversely, if we’re going to use his positional versatility and get another, more traditional Striker, with some height and pace, like Scamacca, then we should pursue both of these options with some real vigor
If I had a choice between Jesus, Richarlison, Raphina, Lewandowski and Gnabry it would be the 2 Munich players all day long. Whilst their wages would be higher, their fees should lower.
I still cannot get my head round that the 3 Brazilians are not centre forwards and that is what we need more than anything.
I think I would prefer calvert-lewin or Watkins over Jesus and richarlison. I would even take a punt on someone like Dennis of Watford.
Personally I don’t see Richarlison or Jesus as an improvement on Nketiah and if they are talking £50-60m I see no point. Instead offer Bayern £60m for Lewandowski and Gnabry then pick up Dennis for £10m.
Gabriel Jesus’ numbers when evaluated in terms of minutes played arevery good, but not quite world class. He scored 8 (7 from open play) and assisted 9 over 1,878 minutes. That’s just shy of 19 full games (including stoppage an average of 3 minutes stopage time at the half and end of the game over 38 games). That works out about 268 minutes per goal scored. 12 games he played on the wing.
While he played in 28 games, starting 21, Pep Guardiola’s penchant for a false 9 and the plethora of quality players Man City have saw Jesus play far fewer minutes than most first-choice strikers. Harry Kane, by comparison, scored 17 (13 from open play) goals and tallied the same number of assists as Jesus in 3,232 minutes. Kane scored a goal for every 248 minutes from open play; better but not a lot better than Jesus.
Jamie Vardy was the embodiment of efficiency when it came to goals from open play in 2021/22, scoring 1 goal every 120 minutes.
Considering that Lacazette was labeled a flop for scoring similar numbers of goals and handing out msimilar assists compared to Jesus on average ( 14/5, 13/10, 10/6, 13/2, 4/7) will Arsenal fans and management be satisfied with the kinds of numbers Jesus is likely to put up?
Playing for Arsenal should give Jesus more minutes and more time playing striker as opposed to on the wing, which should increase his scoring and reduce his assist numbers.
The question is not, ‘is Jesus a good player?’ Jesus is a terrific player. He is athletic, focused, professional, and he scores.
The question to ask is; How many goals will Jesus need to score to be called a success?
Based on the rumored projected transfer fee and salary, Jesus will need to score in the neighborhood of 20 goals per year in order to succeed. The final questions is; Is that number realistic for a player who scored in double figures twice (14, and 13 goals) in his six years at Man City?
always a good read P35…Cheers