Mikel Arteta spoke to the press ahead of Arsenal’s Premier League opener with Crystal Palace on Friday, and he admits that Gabriel Jesus has adapted well so far.
The Brazilian has signed from Manchester City this summer to take up the main centre-forward role, with Alexandre Lacazette moving on at the end of his previous contract, and has hit the ground running with seven goals from his five outings in pre-season.
Confidence is extremely high in regards to both the team and the impact that Jesus could have going into the new season, but Arteta is reluctant to pile the pressure on his new signing, asking his entire team to contribute instead.
“When you bring top players, they are coming from top clubs and they have been extremely successful over the years, they’re going to expect that. The role that Gabby has here is going to be very different to the role that Gabby had in his previous club. That needs some adaptation and some time. He’s done it fantastically well and we’re all surprised how quickly he’s done it, but we have to share that responsibility and he’s an enormous talent, a player with a mentality that is so contagious and he’s going to give us a lot, but it’s a team contribution at the end of the day.”
I don’t believe there is many Gooners out there who aren’t expecting a quick start to the campaign for the Brazilian, but I like to air on the side of caution.
Preseason has definitely increased expectations tenfold, and that could work for or against us, but should we be able to continue our fine form into the new season, this could well be huge for us.
Patrick
————————————————–
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link…
Mikel Arteta talks ahead of our opening game against Crystal Palace
LETS GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!!
Please enjoy, share, and subscribe to Just Arsenal Vids