Gabriel Jesus could not have enjoyed a better home debut for Arsenal.
Boasting two goals and as many assists during a 4-2 stroll against Leicester City in August 2022, Mikel Arteta was not the only one waxing lyrical about the Brazilian forward. “He lifts the standards,” Arsenal‘s boss gushed, hailing Jesus’ winning mentality as well as his quality on the pitch.
Two-and-a-half years later, the current standards at Arsenal appear to be beyond Jesus. The club’s number nine has not scored a Premier League goal since January and – more worryingly – has started just one top-flight game all season.
Where did it all go so wrong?
Jesus flew into Arsenal’s pre-season campaign, scoring in friendly victories over Manchester United and Bayer Leverkusen. “He came on in a great shape,” Arteta remembered, “probably in the best condition he’s been with us.” Yet, one week into the new campaign, he was already back in the treatment room.
The confines of Arsenal’s medical department are depressingly familiar to Jesus. After a three-month knee injury punctuated his debut campaign, niggling issues in the same area added up over the subsequent months. Jesus has missed almost an entire season’s worth of matches (35) during his two-and-a-half years in north London.
The unrelenting nature of these minor knocks has prevented Jesus from building any sense of rhythm or consistency. The Brazilian has started consecutive fixtures just twice in 2024.
In a moment of honesty which would lead to widespread ridicule, Jesus admitted that scoring goals is not his “strong point“. “There are things I can’t control,” the number nine explained. “I train, I look for, I try, I move, I help the team.”
Since the 2017/18 campaign, Jesus’ first full season in English football with Manchester City, he has scored 63 non-penalty goals from chances that an average finisher would be expected to convert 78 times. Only one player – Dominic Calvert-Lewin – has a larger negative difference between his actual goal tally and expected goal (xG) figure.
Jesus broke his nine-month goal drought in a Carabao Cup tie against second-tier Preston North End last month, but is still waiting for his first Premier League or Champions League goal of the season.
Jesus has been fit for the past few months and has never been a clinical finisher but remains shackled to the substitutes bench. “Now he needs to earn the right to play more,” Arteta warned recently.
The demands of an Arsenal forward have evolved in Jesus’ absence. Now that Arteta’s side are established as one of the division’s prominent forces, teams are increasingly likely to hunker in the safety of a mid-block.
Kai Havertz, Jesus’ replacement through the middle, offers a towering focal point for when the Gunners want to bypass the press with a direct ball. Havertz is just as unreliable in front of goal as Jesus, but brings a layer of subtle interplay between the lines that the Brazilian naturally lacks.
Jesus’ familiar balance of energy and inefficiency points towards a future on the flanks, which is where his most recent outings have come. Bukayo Saka is scarcely rested and the improved form of Gabriel Martinelli has limited Jesus’ game time even further.
Arsenal are adamant that they want their misfiring striker to stay, but a return to those heady heights of his home debut seem an awful long way away.
