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Former Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand has backed Gabriel Jesus to be the Premier League’s ‘signing of the season.’
THE LOWDOWN: PROMISING START
Jesus arrived at the Emirates after completing a £45m summer move to reunite with former City assistant coach Mikel Arteta in North London. The Brazilian enjoyed a perfect pre-season campaign with the Gunners, scoring seven goals, including a hat-trick in a 6-0 win over Sevilla.
The 25-year-old made his competitive debut for Arsenal in their season opener against Crystal Palace, a game which the Gunners went on to win by a 2-0 scoreline. Though Jesus did not score, he had a brilliant evening overall and it was impact in attack was easily visible.
The forward has already received praise from Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville and ex-Manchester United man Rio Ferdinand is the latest to throw some positive words at the Brazilian.
THE LATEST: BACKED TO SHINE
Speaking to William Hill, Ferdinand believes Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus will prove to be the Premier League’s signing of the season. The ex-United defender said: “I think he goes and gives Arsenal what they’ve been missing. He’s somebody that they can rely upon up front to score the goals.
“They’ve had [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang, who was indifferent at times. They’ve had [Alexandre] Lacazette, who didn’t get to the level they were expecting.”
Jesus was naturally handed the No.9 jersey after is move from City and is now the club’s first team striker after Lacazette’s departure earlier this summer.
“Jesus goes in there and the fact that he’s now the designated number nine and the man they’re relying on, with that responsibility, I think his confidence will give him another 10% minimum,” Ferdinand continued.
“At City you weren’t seeing the best Jesus because he always thought: ‘I’m always going to get pulled out of the team, they’re always going to put someone else in instead of me, they’ll play a false nine instead of me’ – and that does something to your confidence.”
THE VERDICT: RIGHT ASSESSMENT
We can all agree with Ferdinand on this one and his assessment seems to be spot on. Gabriel Jesus is an obvious upgrade to Arsenal’s previous striking options and he equally fits in with the profile that Arteta wants in a forward.
His versatility in attack as well as his dribbling abilities is an added trait that will come in handy in the course of the season.
All that is left is for Jesus to open his Premier League account for Arsenal and he’ll be fired up to do just that when the Gunners welcome Leicester City to the Emirates on Saturday.
