Gabriel Jesus: Will He Score Again?

[OnlyOne]

How long was you waiting for me to post something to get this off you gremlin?

I asked Siri to notify me the minute you posted.

 

[Makingtrax]

Kit makes him look like a loser.

Arteta's the only thing that might make him a loser, else he's a decent player.

 

[FinnGooner]

Welcome! Good player, now let’s see if he can become world class. He has the potential, I think. Regardless, he’ll be a huge upgrade on Laca/Eddie.

 

[North_Bank_Gooner]

Great signing, in the sense he's the only one who thing stopping nketia starting games.

 

[AberGooner]

Wow where did that come from? Done amazingly well to keep this one under wraps.

Good replacement for Laca though. I think he'll do well.

 

[UpTheGunnerz]

welcome to Assna

 

[Taneruit]

Oh, he himself think he's a 9?

It's like that thing I talked about and got *but he's a winger* Eh @Yousif Arsenal ?

(Don't actually remember if it was you. Sorry if not. )

I'll say it again, though. Dude was hampered as a 9 at City by expectations alone.
Think he will do just fine in the position with us.

 

[Riou]

Glad he said he wants to play as a 9.

Would have been quite funny after everything the club and forum have been through, if he said he wants to play anywhere but CF

 

[OnlyOne]

Oh, he himself think he's a 9?

It's like that thing I talked about and got *but he's a winger* Eh @Yousif Arsenal ?

(Don't actually remember if it was you. Sorry if not. )

Think it was @Rex Banter

 

[Camron]

The Athletic somewhere during Christmas:

Jesus turned Water into Wine.
Mikel turned Winger into Nine.

 

[Macho]

Spoiler: With Jesus, Arsenal know what they’re getting – Arteta and Edu have learnt from Pepe deal

By James McNicholas
1h ago

While Arsenal reckon with potentially missing out on one Brazilian target, they have managed to sign another. Indications are that Raphinha is moving towards Chelsea but, in adding Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City, Arsenal have landed their No 1 priority. The possible disappointment over Raphinha must be weighed against the significance of the Jesus deal: a new striker was always the key piece in Arsenal’s summer transfer strategy.

Manager Mikel Arteta and technical director Edu have been scouring the globe in search of a centre-forward for the best part of a year now. Ultimately, they found one fairly close to home in the Premier League, and at a relatively affordable price.

Both those things mark this out as a signing that correlates with Arsenal’s new strategic approach to recruitment. In the last 12 months, Arsenal have clearly operated like a club with a plan.

It might seem absurd to allude to a £45 million deal as being cheap — especially when the transfer fee will be supplemented by a five-year salary package that will most likely make Jesus the club’s highest-paid player. By most estimations, the Manchester City and Brazil forward is the fifth-most expensive player in Arsenal’s history.

In the context of the European striker market, however, this is a relatively affordable transfer.

Just last summer, Romelu Lukaku cost Chelsea £97.5 million. This month, Liverpool agreed to pay Benfica £85 million for Darwin Nunez. In January, Arsenal pursued Dusan Vlahovic, the Fiorentina forward who ultimately joined Juventus instead for £66.6 million. The club were also interested in Tammy Abraham, Victor Osimhen and Lautaro Martinez.

The likelihood is that deals for any of these players would have forced Arsenal to break their existing transfer record. Their biggest outgoing fee remains the £72 million paid to Lille for Nicolas Pepe in the summer of 2019 and Arsenal are hoping to move on the Ivory Coast international in this window after an underwhelming three years.

Perhaps the decision to go for Jesus, at a substantially lower fee, indicates the club have learnt some of the lessons of the Pepe deal.

Arenal haven’t got their money’s worth from record buy Nicolas Pepe (Photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
For fans, the capture of Pepe was very exciting — but it was also a hugely expensive gamble on a player who had never played in England. It was unclear how he would settle after his move from France, how he would adapt, and how his skills would translate to the Premier League. There are uncertainties in any transfer, but there are ways clubs can mitigate against them.

That is something Arteta and Edu have sought to do since taking the helm at Arsenal.

There has been an emphasis on extensive background checks, to better understand the character of any prospective signings. In the case of Jesus, that is barely necessary: Arteta and Edu have both worked with the forward before, with Manchester City and the Brazil national team respectively. They know exactly who they are bringing in.

There has also been a deliberate strategy of the club targeting established Premier League players. Since Arteta and Edu arrived, Arsenal have signed Cedric, Willian, Maty Ryan, Aaron Ramsdale, Ben White and now Jesus — admittedly with mixed results. Of course, they targeted Raphinha this summer too.

Arteta and Edu — as two foreigners who came to play in the Premier League — clearly believe there is a value in acquiring players who have already gone through that initial teething period. Having it behind them ought to make a new signing’s transition substantially smoother.

Pepe helps Jesus up during a match between Arsenal and City (Photo: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Compared to some of Arsenal’s alternative striking targets, Jesus is a known commodity. That’s been a hallmark of Arteta’s recruitment decisions thus far: he tends to favour a lower-risk profile. The price of £45 million, while arguably steep for a player with only a year left on his contract, also makes this move more sensible than speculative.

Once the price point goes above the £60 million mark, it’s increasingly difficult to extract value. Perhaps that factored into Arsenal’s thinking on Raphinha, too.

Across the European game in recent years, big-ticket signings such as Pepe, Lukaku, Eden Hazard and Paul Pogba have all flattered to deceive. For every Virgil van Dijk, there’s a Harry Maguire — for every Alisson, a Kepa Arrizabalaga. At that level, players have to produce an extraordinary level of performance to even retain their value, let alone for it to grow.

Manchester City have enormous resources but only three of their buys have broken that £60 million barrier — Jack Grealish, Ruben Dias (below) and Riyad Mahrez. Generally, City make lower-risk signings with more upside. Perhaps former City assistant Arteta and Edu have gleaned something from their example.

(Photo: Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images)
There will always be exceptions. Some players are so special, or so difficult to acquire, that they necessitate breaking the bank. But Arsenal should probably not be in the habit of paying £70 million to £80 million for single players. Especially when, as has proved the case with Jesus and new team-mate Fabio Vieira, they can sometimes land two of them for that much money.

This deal also offers some explanation, though not necessarily vindication, for Arsenal’s decision not to sign a forward in January. With City fighting for silverware at home and abroad at that time, they would not have sanctioned Jesus’ departure in midseason.

Going into the second half of last season without a new striker certainly cost Arsenal. Their failure to secure Champions League football may ultimately have ended up costing them Raphinha too. They will hope that in the long run, Jesus proves to be worth the wait.

It would be wrong to describe the signing of Jesus as a surefire success, though.

Arsenal are hoping to field him as a No 9 when much of his recent football has been played on the flanks. He ticks many of the boxes Arteta looked for in a centre-forward: he has good movement, relentless work rate, and can drop in to combine in midfield or out wide. The major question mark surrounds whether or not he is ruthless enough in front of goal.


The fact Jesus has accepted Arsenal’s offer suggests he is willing to face that challenge. And should he fail, Arsenal will still be left with a more than useful multifunctional forward entering his peak years, without having broken the bank to land him. The chances of Jesus being remembered as an expensive mistake appear slim.

A signing from another league might have felt more exotic, potentially more exciting — but it would have come with more unknowns.

Throughout these negotiations, Arsenal have been helped by the fact Arteta and Edu have relationships with Jesus that go back years. With Chelsea and Tottenham also monitoring the situation, those connections strengthened their case. But they’re also part of why they chose him.

Arsenal feel that they know what they are getting.

 

[Riou]

 

[A_G]

@Macho is online everyone, the excitement police is here to shut you down, everyone hide it.

@Macho in this thread

 

[Trilly]

@Trilly @Rimaal @everyoneelsewhoattackedandcalledOnlyOnealoserandliar

Unless you could tell the future why should we believe you over his original quotes?

Him changing his mind doesn’t retrospectively make you correct. I don’t log on to explain such simple things. Please.

 

[AberGooner]

Still got the Thierry pull. Not long now till new signings won't have seen him play.

 

[Trilly]

This is what I want to see when we talk about culture! He talks about the good relationship waffle that Edteta have been going on about for years but unlike them he actually links it to winning games. Would be nice if others followed suit.

Happy for him and hope he succeeds, think we need another top forward to really have him cooking though.

 

[OnlyOne]

Unless you could tell the future why should we believe you over his original quotes?

Him changing his mind doesn’t retrospectively make you correct. I don’t log on to explain such simple things. Please.

Number 9.

 

[Rex Stone]

Think it was @Rex Banter

No it wasn’t.

 

[El Duderino]

Unless you could tell the future why should we believe you over his original quotes?

Him changing his mind doesn’t retrospectively make you correct. I don’t log on to explain such simple things. Please.

Theo spent his career saying he was a 9. Wenger said he was a 9.

He played there and didn't do that well and suddenly he changes his tune to always wanting to he a rw.

 

[OnlyOne]

Theo spent his career saying he was a 9. Wenger said he was a 9.

He played there and didn't do that well and suddenly he changes his tune to always wanting to he a rw.