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Gabriel Jesus is already growing quite popular within the Arsenal ranks and Eddie Nketiah is the latest to shower praise on the new signing.
THE LOWDOWN: POPULAR FIGURE
It is barely a month since Arsenal announced the signing of Gabriel Jesus but he has already become a fan-favourite as well as a popular figure in the dressing room.
Only a week ago, Martin Odegaard hailed the Brazilian and revealed his excitement to play alongside the £45m man next season.
Eddie Nketiah is the latest Arsenal player to praise his new teammate, with his comments coming after the pair shared the pitch in the club’s 3-1 pre-season victory against MLS side Orlando City.
In that victory, Nketiah was named the man of the match for his performance, in a game that showed that both forwards can indeed play alongside each other on the pitch.
THE LATEST: A GROWING RELATIONSHIP
Nketiah caused trouble for the Orlando City defence and looked sharp particularly in the second half. Speaking on his opening goal in that victory, he said: “Gabby did well in there.
“I think he did a little shift and it dropped and I was alert and just passed it into the back of the net. It was nice to score and it’s a good feeling.”
In the aftermath of his goal, it was brilliant to see Nketiah and Jesus perform a joint celebration, especially as they both share similar trademarks in that regard. In retrospect, Mikel Arteta might have a lot of ‘phone calls’ to pick in the coming season.
“Yeah, we had a little chat, we’ve been getting on really well,” he added.
“I enjoy playing with him and obviously we’ve got the same celebration so we said the next time one of us score, he called me last time, so I said we can do a little link up next time.
“Hopefully, we can continue to score goals and celebrate together.”
THE VERDICT: HEALTHY COMPETITION
Despite the early signs of a ‘bromance’ between both forwards, the reality is that there would only be room for one of both names for a good part of the season. Unfortunately, Nketiah might have to do with a backup role and may possibly be deployed in cup games. In the Premier League, Gabriel Jesus is the more proven player and will undoubtedly be the club’s starter when all parties are fit.
In a previous article, we’ve detailed that Jesus’ presence will likely affect Nketiah’s chances and Arteta’s creativity will have to come in play, if he intends to keep both forwards happy.
