Mikel Arteta says Gabriel Jesus is ready to feature against Fulham on Saturday having trained with the Arsenal first team this week.
It was revealed yesterday that the Brazil international was back on the pitch following a minor knee procedure at the start of the month but it was widely assumed he is still short of fitness and would more likely target a return against Manchester United on 3 September.
That appears not to be the case.
Asked about Jesus, Arteta told his pre-game press conference: “He’s really happy. It was a big blow for him, after the pre-season that he had, to have another surgery, but he’s looking really sharp. He trained the full week really good, so he’s ready to go.”
Pressed on whether he’ll be in the squad tomorrow, the boss reiterated, “He’s ready to go.”
The Spaniard also confirmed that there are no new injuries to worry about meaning Jurrien Timber and Mo Elneny are the only players unable to feature this weekend.
Arteta is fully expecting Fulham to make life difficult for his side, even if they’ll be without last season’s top scorer Aleksandr Mitrovic following the Serbian’s move to Saudi Arabia.
“What Marco and the coaching staff have done there is remarkable,” said Arteta.
“The way they played last season and where they qualified in the Premier League and especially the way they did it, it was incredible. He’s a coach I’ve always admired, he’s really well organised, they have really clear ideas of what they want to do, you can see his team plays exactly in the way that he wants and tomorrow we’re going to have a tough match.”
“The majority of the group has been there for a while and they’ve been doing very well with that core group. It’s true that Mitrovic gives them a different dimension but [new signing Raul] Jimenez as well is a very proven goal-scoring this league and he did extremely well at Wolves and they have the resources, they have the capacity to help you and tomorrow again we will see that for sure.”
“It’s a team that creates a lot of challenges and difficulties,” he added. “It happened last year. When we played there and at home, we had tough moments. The way we won at home was in the last minute and away we were really good in the first half but not so good in the second half. So tomorrow I’m expecting something very similar.”
Yes!
He is risen!
Save him for United. Start with Eddie then give Gabi maybe 20/25 minutes cause we should have enough to beat Fulham without having to play him from the off
Tross 🙏🏼
Yes, it shouldn’t annoy me like this (Eddie’s performances have been fine in the opening two games) but I am a bit frustrated not to have seen Trossard up front again this season. Arteta’s commitment to playing Nketiah over the player who clearly made our whole attack function so much better when Jesus was out is just a bit of a strange one for me. Martinelli in particular hardly ever looks at his best when Eddie plays, as opposed to when he’s linking up with Jesus/Trossard. If Mikel’s really not sold on Trossard up front for whatever reason, then Jesus’… Read more »
Is Trossard a CF? To me, the new RVP (in football only) is Martinelli but until he is ready to play in the middle, it has to be Jesus or Nketiah.
Trossard can very well play CF, as evidenced by the fact he did play CF very well.
He really looked good and made the team look good this pre-season, just as he did before the World Cup last season. And when he is back in the side, we’ll also have a better idea of the way Arteta wants Havertz and Rice to play.
For me, its Trossard up front against a fulham side likely to sit deep. His movement and link play are going to be more important than nketiah’s box prowess. Perhaps if we’re winning comfortably Jesus could come on for a cameo, but there’s no need to risk him or his fitness.