Following Arsenal’s Emirates Cup triumph over AS Monaco, head coach, Mikel Arteta, shared some disturbing news regarding Gabriel Jesus,
“Unfortunately, he had a little procedure this morning.
“He’s had some discomfort in his knee that caused him some issues so they had to go in. It’s not something major but he’s going to be out for a few weeks.
“We had to look at it and we had to make a decision and the best one is to protect the player and get him back as quick as possible. We decided to do it.”
The timing of Gabriel Jesus’ injury is really bad, as Arsenal goes into the new campaign, starting without their alpha dog in attack for a considerable chunk of the campaign, as he’s expected to be ‘out for weeks’. Gabriel Jesus is an integral part of the squad and his performances at preseason were precursors of what to expect in the forthcoming campaign, but injuries are part and parcel of the beautiful game, so Arsenal have to soldier on without Jesus.
In the wake of G. Jesus’ layoff, Arteta will need to look within his squad for the Brazilian forward’s replacement. Here are some of the alternatives for Arsenal to start the campaign with.
Eddie Nketiah
Eddie Nketiah saw club captain, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, leave the club in the winter transfer window to Barcelona and sat on the bench as Alexandre Lacazette continued to struggle, and when Mikel Arteta had his fill of Lacazette’s shortcomings, Nketiah came into the squad and scored a couple of goals that almost saw Arsenal grab the Champions League qualification spot.
Nketiah was about to leave on a Bosman, but he negotiated a new contract extension and hoped to get consistent minutes in the new campaign. Losing Aubameyang and Lacazette left a mammoth-sized crater in the frontline, so the attacking messiah, Gabriel Jesus, arrived from Manchester City to save us all. Or so we thought.
Jesus’ consistent gametime leading the line had to coincide with Nketiah warming the bench and always coming on as a substitute, but when G. Jesus went to the FIFA World Cup with Brazil, while Nketiah stayed at home, instead of representing Ghana, fortune smiled on Eddie, as the Brazilian forward picked up a nasty knee injury and required surgery, as well as a lengthy layoff to recuperate.
Nketiah made good of opportunity he received, starting with a sumptuous finish against West Ham, and followed it up with a goal in the 4-2 win against Brighton. Oxford United came to town in the FA Cup and Nketiah put two past them, but he saved his best performance against Manchester United, scoring a brace in the pulsating 3-2 win over the arch-enemy.
The goals dried up afterwards and an unfortunate ankle injury allowed Leandro Trossard take the reins of leading the line, which he did, till G. Jesus returned to the side, sending Nketiah back to the trenches of the Arsenal bench.
With G. Jesus out of action, Nketiah led the line against Monaco, scored a good goal and will be the odds on favorite to lead the line in Jesus’ absence. I just hope he will back it up with some vital goals.
Leandro Trossard
Leandro Trossard arrived in January 2023 and provided stiff competition for Gabriel Martinelli, but his versatility saw him play as a center forward for a couple of games when Eddie Nketiah got injured, but he was displaced when G. Jesus returned to full fitness.
Trossard was an assist machine for Arsenal last season, creating 10 assists for his teammates, and scoring his only goal in the 1-1 draw with Brentford. He had a lot of close shaves and had a lovely goal against Leicester chalked off.
While Trossard doesn’t have a domineering presence in attack, he makes up for it with his quick-footedness, intelligence, positional awareness, technique and off the ball movement. He’s more than capable of holding the fort in Jesus absence.
Folarin Balogun
Folarin Balogun lit the world on fire following his goalscoring exploits for Stade de Reims last season. Arriving into the new season full of confidence, Balogun reiterated his desire not to go out on loan this season, leaving the club with two plausible options – either keep around and feature him consistently, or sell him off to the highest bidder.
Inter Milan had emerged as potential suitors but they are loggerheads with Arsenal over Balogun’s transfer price. There has also been some whispers about West Ham United interested in buying the forward, but Arsenal doesn’t seem interested in negotiating with them, following the drama on the Declan Rice transfer saga.
Kai Havertz
The lanky forward from Chelsea has loads of experience playing as a center forward, even though his output left a lot to be desired. One would want to attribute it to the sorry state of things at Chelsea last season, but at least, Havertz offers an alternative that can be explored, even though he was primarily signed to play the left No. 8, which he has managed to notch up two goals during the preseason campaign.
A New Striker from Transfer Market
This would be a last-gasp option, but it will largely depend on how long Gabriel Jesus is out for. A ‘few weeks’ sounds so vague, but the ITKs have stated that the Arsenal forward would be out for six weeks. With Arsenal’s attention currently focused on signing David Raya from Brentford, one wonders if this injury to Jesus could force a rethink.
I wish Gabriel Jesus a speedy recovery and I hope the blow from his absence will be cushioned by the quality of the team.
Sayonara.
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