Losing Gabriel Jesus to injury at the World Cup was every Arsenal’s fans’ worst nightmare, and it still came true despite the Brazilian only starting one measly game for his country.
And as Mikel Arteta says, it is nearly impossible to replace him, but he is not too despondent as he knows he has other options already in the side, but you may be surprised by which option he calls the “big one”.
When asked by Arsenal.com about Jesus’ injury, the Boss replied: “It’s a huge blow for us, obviously. He’s such an important player: he’s brought something very different to the team and it’s impossible to replace him. But we have other players, other alternatives and we’ll try to get that sorted. The transfer window is another option.”
“I think [Jesus] is a unique player but Eddie [Nketiah] has incredible qualities as well for the way we want to play. We have other alternatives in that we can play Martinelli up front as well. We are currently a little bit short in terms of upfront positions but getting Emile [Smith Rowe] back is going to be a big one.”
The thing is; we all know how good Smith-Rowe can be, and Arteta has previously admitted that the Hale End star could play as a centre-forward. Arteta revealed earlier this year “I think he can play in four positions.
“He can play as a left-winger, he can play as a left attacking midfielder, right attacking midfielder and he can play as a 9; very, very well I think.”
But the biggest worry we have is that ESR has been plagued by injuries since he was in the academy. Hopefully his big operation this summer has fixed all his problems, but I think it’s a big risk to count on him play regularly until he has had a run of games and proved his fitness.
ESR would certainly be “like a new signing” if he can come straight back into the team, but surely we will still need a couple of new arrivals to cope with our future fixture congestion?
Sam P
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Reiss Nelson’s sad interview before his heart-breaking injury.
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