While there have been many theories about how long Gabriel Jesus will be on the treatment table, ranging from three weeks to three months, but the fact remains that until he returns to Arsenal for more intensive scans, no one really knows how long it will be just yet.
There have also been a massive increase in rumours linking us to certain strikers, especially ones that have performed well in the World Cup, which Arsenal could bring in to replace him this January.
But the fact is that Arsenal already have cover in the squad, and if Jesus returns to the starting XI, say in the middle of January, would that then create another problem deciding who would be an automattic starter after that?
As Fabrizio Romano told CaughtOffside’s Daily Briefing this morning: “A big blow for Arsenal as Gabriel Jesus has picked up an injury that could keep him out until January,” Romano said.
“We will see if it will affect their transfer plans, more tests are needed. I think having Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Martinelli available for that position is something important, they wanted to give full confidence to Gabriel as starter.”
So there is the question. If Arsenal snapped up another hitman like Cody Gakpo, and he started banging them in regularly, where would that leave Jesus once he has recovered?
Darren N.
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In answer to your last question, Jesus would have to prove his worth. I think he has been fantastic so far but professional football is unforgiving and sentiment should not come into Arteta’s decision making.
I agree SueP, the club has to make decisions on what is best for the club.
Competition brings out the best, and the best should play, sentiment and emotion should not figure in.
Either he will up his game or play 2nd fiddle, simple as.
Bit of a conundrum isn’t it! My hope is that we only at the most bring in a loan striker (or if possible recall Balogan) as back to Eddie and the team rally round and put in the effort to maintain the PL challenge. This is after all what a good squad is all about!
Edu & Arteta are probably meeting as I write and saying “that Jax knows what he’s talking about, lets do it”😏😉😁
I am sure they would reject your short sighted opinion JAX, if they read it, even allowing for your laughing emojis. It is abundantly plain and has been for ages that we are very short of proper strikers.
Jesus is the only proven out and out striker we have and he is now injured. Eddie and Balogun are not remotely near to being up to the task of maintaining a team at the very top. Martinelli is a wonderful wide player but is not a specialist striker either.
Sorry to disagree FOR ONCE with you but surely you must see that truth?
We have a real shot at the actual title and in NO way is our present strike force deep enough, or JESUS apart, good enough either.
Gakpo has now proven himself in the world cup in 3 different positions and has scored against the best team in England and the europa league. We cannot go into any epl fixture with nkietah as our main cf. We need to break the bank on a top class forward that can cover atleast two positions in the forward line. Step up Gakpo or Felix.
Buy Mudryk and move Matinelli to compete with Eddie in the CF position. Plus Emile Smith is due back soon.
My thoughts exactly!
If Arsenal need to spend on a ST the go for Cody Gakpo. This young man could be a game changer up Top for us, young also to fit our club policy now.
But we have apparently agreed a deal for Mudrik from Donesk for £40m+ & add ons? The player apparently wants to come to Arsenal as does Youri Teilimans for Leicester?
I don’t think we will spend alot in Jan but if we do thse 3 will close to £100m+, and that’s still not a left footed CB brought in.
Who leaves though to make space for these signings, maybe Holding, Soares & who else?
Busy window it looks like it may be and if we do go all put and spend then fair play to Stan/Josh Kroenke 👏 for putting their money where their mouth Is…. would be a huge boost to the club if Edu did go and pull in a few big signings to push on for Top4 or possibly even the Title!
Come Summer we literally wouldn’t need to buy much!
I would certainly look at Mitrovic if Fulham would sell him
Screw Jesus,
we need another striker quickly.
We needed one before this injury.
Gakpo certainly isn’t good enough.
“Screw Jesus”?
He is an Arsenal player. Show some respect please
I take your point entirely
He needs a striker.
Centre forward not martinellis best position.
Nketiah nowhere near good enough for a title push
The Swiss striker, Embolo has impressed me for some time.Physically powerful, quick and very adept at holding up the ball under pressure.Perhaps Xhaka could influence him to join Arsenal if our Management team was genuinely interested.Gakpo looks the part but would be not cost a fortune given the number of top sides said to be interested in him?
It is better to be safe than sorry
Regardless of Jesus injury , we needed a proper goal scorer even before Jesus injury , not some back up Like Nketia who can’t win a Carlin cup game against Brighton , and not Cody Gakpo who in my opinion is similar to Martineli or Jesu as per style of play and he will end up being a second option to jesus as long as jesus is fit.
Now that Jesus is injured , this has opened us up to prioritize signing a striker and hopefully they go for Duzan vlahovic now that juve current occurrence has present an opportunity for us and they’ve even (Quote) put a price on him already. (70m).
We need a proper goal scorer cuz we knew this jesus scenario might happen in the second half of the season … second leg has not even begun yet cuz we haven’t played 18games yet and they will come heavy when Epl resumes.
Either you’re fighting for top4 or 1st 🥇position … you can’t take just one game for granted or gamble with it because 3points this days is a lot considering those behind Arsenal
I personally will appreciate the Arsenal board not to joke with our good luck this season and do the needful since they intend to address the Number 9th position in the summer anyways , why not now 🤷♂️
We need to sustain our current luck for Epl title , unless they are contempted with 4th position , I’ll say risk it and don’t sign a proper goal scorer but if we want to take advantage of our current luck and fight it to the end , no need to waste money on another Nketia or Balogun or another Pepe signing … spend the money once and for all to sign a long term fix as per his age and instant fix as per his goal tally output instantly.
Dusan Vlahovic
Mikylo Mudryk
Danilo from palmeiras
This are the vital instant fix signings we need and it will sustain us as per quality debt till the end of the season and no need to address it in the summer simply because we’ve done it now this January.
When jesus comes back , he can fill in the gap in saka position
Mikylo Mudryk is a capable direct Martineli replacement without doubt and he will hit the ground running from day one
Dusan vlahovic is a starter from the moment he signs for Arsenal
When jesus comes back , we will cross the bridge when we get there , Arteta will improvise then and besides , there is a lot of games to go around for everyone considering we will fight to semi finals and final or Europa league and FA-cup and EpL finals o the end … but no need to worry now Jesus will definitely play efficiently when he comes back without doubt.
My opinion
And a sound and wise opinion too Henry! Unlike that of the article writer.
In an ideal world I like your three options but I think:
Vlahovic- not convinced he would be interested in joining us, heck he wasn’t last January.
Mudryk- very good chance of happening.
Danilo- expect this one to get done and quite like the signing however I would prefer Sofiyan Amrabat as a here and now option to compete for Partey’s spot.
Jesus fit or not, we need a number nine that has physical presence and can finish. Jesus is a wide player or a second striker, not a striker.
A rather silly piece that seems to suggest we should not enrich our current scarce striking options, in case it upsets JESUS.
WE URGENTLY NEED NOT ONE BUT TWO EXTRA TOP CLASS STRIKERS, IF WE ARE SERIOUS ABOUT CHALLENGING CITY’S GREAT DEPTH!!
Darren, What an unthinking idea, that fortunately will find NO TRACTION at all with those who make our club decisions.
Not sure I agree that “we have cover in the squad”. Nketiah is not that cover.
It’s difficult to cover Jesus in any squad, he’s a fairly unique player who causes panic in defences by running at them and makes things happen for other people as well as himself.
So when peopel talk about cover for Jesus and then go on to talk about goalscorers like Haaland, it’s not like-for-like cover that’s being discussed, it’s simply another player who has the same number on his back.
Will it affect Jesus? Probably, he’s been here before…
When he joined City he was brilliant – so much so that they were thinking of selling Aguero.
Then he broke his foot. Aguero performed, Jesus recovered and couldn’t displace Aguero… and the rest is history (Guardiola started playing a different no-striker system when Aguero left, then Haaland etc etc).
Jesus will be hoping that history doesn’t repeat itself where we buy a replacement in January who he can’t displace when he’s fit again.
Ivan Toney would be a great Jesus replacement, with his work ethic being very strong and him also being a bit of an all-round. nuisance I don’t think we could get him in Jan though
I very much doubt with the baggage he would bring, he is an option. PASS!!!!!
Marcus Thuram’s statistics are very encouraging but Bayern is about to offer him a 5 year deal unfortunately.
Aside him, Gakpo should be ok. Our young squad has proven the energy youthful age can bring to the PL. We should stick with that policy and bring in Gakpo or Thuram and Danillo.
I love Mudryk but the Gabriel Jesus situation is likely to make his purchase unlikely
Balogun should join in 2 years. He needs further development next campaign.
I really hope we don’t buy a striker based on WC performance. The standard at a WC is terrible.
It reminded me just how bad when I was watching highlights of Ghana v Uruguay.
1. The penalty. In the lead-up, the goalie somehow shovels the ball from his own feet forward 10 yards to a Uruguayan.
2. The 1st Uruguay goal. A Uruguayan gets the ball in midfield, plenty of space. He pushes it forward – too far – straight to a Ghana player, who then manages to fumble about and lose it back to him. He passes it up to a player who crosses at grass height into a penalty area with only two Ghana players in it…
The ball skids under the first guy’s foot, then under the 2nd one… all the way across the area to a Uruguayan. He pushes it back into the area and it’s bundled in. Low quality schoolboy stuff.
Few national teams can put out a quality player in every position which makes some players look better than they are.
It seems better to buy based on club performance over a longer period.
Competition for places should be expected especially at a big club like Arsenal, players already here or looking to join us should have the mentality to fight for their position in the starting eleven and not just expect to be an automatic starter.
Before a single ball was kick this season we needed a striker, Midfielder and a winger.
With our glaring needs not change, something tells me we will get our priorities right.
@Kev
Mate, do you think I am going to listen to your “prophetic grace” again?
last week, you “prophesised”…….Kev
In reply to Gun down.
They used to be hyped. However, what I said isn’t a joke at all. The final is Germany and Belgium and ends in a 2-1 scoreline. France and England will put up a fight. This is by prophetic grace.
As we are aware Jesus’s value has not been merely as a goal poacher but in his work rate and all round skills. His dribbling and unselfish passing have made even the likes of Xhaka look good. Replacing him is not an easy fix and we can only hope that his injury will not drag on for months. It’s pretty clear that Eddie who at best is a target man won’t be able to step in Jesus’s shoes. My hope is that ESR and Viera step up in the middle, Martinellii, fills in some of the spaces that Jesus covered and the club spend big on one dynamic signing. Fortunately Arsenal’s first two games back are not the most difficult but there will be testing times ahead.
Nope, no buying another striker. Let Nketiah swim or sink. He’s on 100k and already 22.
Gambling on Nketien is too high risk, he simply won’t / can’t deliver consistently and points will be lost. The top four race is going to be very tight.
A loanee would be ideal.
A Gabriel Jesus-disrupting striker would be fine.
No signing would mean top 4 hopes are gone.
Nketiah has had ample opportunity to prove himself and failed terribly.
Just like last season, the January transfer window will decide our title hopes and top 4 hopes.
Quality and depth matter, and it’s crucial now that we are in a title race.
Some have said “play Martinelli as striker” which begs the question
If we shift our LW to striker, then why is Nketiah here on 100k a week? If he’s not good enough to step up now and produce something in Jesus’ absence, then he should be replaced.
Nketiah has never taken his game to the next level, and is closer to Championship than PL.
Glad someone blocked absurd Melo loan, wish they also blocked Nketiah’s absurd 100k weekly wages. 50 – 60k a week more than fair based on his productivity.