Gabriel Jesus’ major injury concerns while at Arsenal came to fruition in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, when he suffered a knee injury while representing Brazil, causing him to miss up to five months of action for Arsenal subsequently. This was a major blow as Jesus was a vital cog in the Arsenal attacking machine, cementing his place as the alpha dog in the club’s forward line following the high-profile departures of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Jesus didn’t start the new campaign any better, as he had to go under the knife again for a minor procedure for a niggling knee issue that saw him miss the early part of the season, even though Arsenal managed to cover his absence with Eddie Nketiah, Leandro Trossard and new signing, Kai Havertz, featuring in the center forward position.
When he returned to action, Gabriel Jesus showed blistering form in the Champions League, scoring four goals in five Group Stage matches, even though his performances in the Premier League left a lot to be desired. However, during the Sevilla game in October 2023, Jesus suffered yet another hamstring injury, and remained sidelined for a considerable chunk of time.
His return to footballing action in the business end of the season has been highly anticipated and welcome, but he has failed to nail down a starting berth, partly due to the inspired form of Havertz as the de-facto forward, and due to the club managing his minutes till he’s fully fit. Jesus came off the bench in Arsenal’s Champions League quarterfinals against Bayern Munich, creating a neat assist for Trossard and exerting his influence on the game as the Gunners ended the match in a stalemate with the Bavarian giants.
In a recent interview with TNT Sports Brazil, Jesus has dropped hints that he may forgo his potential appearance for Brazil in the forthcoming Copa America to go under the knife to mitigate his niggling knee injury,
“I honestly don’t know if my knee will be good enough to be available for the Copa America. In my best moment, one of my best moments in my career, I went to a World Cup and ended up getting injured and today I still have these little problems with my knee.”
“Today I have a different mindset, today I think I have to look after myself a lot, take care of myself, because if I’m 100 per cent [fit] I’ll help and if I’m not, I won’t help.”
“I always want to be available for the national team and want to be called up. Obviously, I want to play in another Copa América, I want to win, I want to conquer, but I don’t know, we’ll see. I honestly don’t know if my knee will be good enough to be available, but it’s still three months away, so we’ll see what happens.
“Even here at Arsenal there are things that you have to hold on to, go, train, play, train today, don’t train, play, in short, it’s difficult, but I intend to, my desire is always to be available for both Arsenal and the national team.
“It doesn’t matter if, at the end of the season, I have to open up my knee and correct what’s getting in the way and end up missing out on a chance to play in the Copa America.”
Jesus has confirmed that he can’t remember the last time he played football without pain, and that’s not good for his long term health. With a handful of games left before the campaign is over, Jesus will want to do his part in contributing to the team’s charge for the Premier League and Champions League, but with this revelation that he’s struggling badly with injuries, I don’t expect him to start games for the club.
It will be best to manage him as a super sub for the remainder of the campaign, which will give Havertz the chance to remain the focal point in attack while Declan Rice and Thomas Partey / Jorginho play as the double pivot in midfield.
I wish Gabriel Jesus the very best and I hope he mitigates these knee issues once and for all.
Sayonara.
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