Gabriel Jesus has hinted he may have to go under the knife again in the summer to solve ongoing issues with his knee.
The Brazil international admitted earlier this week that he couldn’t remember the last time he played pain-free and, judging by the fact he’s in and out of the side at the moment, it appears Arsenal are trying to nurse the striker through the remainder of the season.
Jesus had an operation on his knee in December 2022 after picking up an injury at the Qatar World Cup. While he returned to action in time for the end of the season, he suffered a setback on the eve of the current campaign and has continued to miss chunks of games in the last few months.
His fitness problems don’t just concern Arsenal, having regained his place in Brazil’s squad he now thinks he may have to rule himself out of the US-hosted Copa America to focus on his recovery.
“I honestly don’t know if my knee will be good enough to be available [for the Copa],” Jesus told TNT Sports Brazil (translated by Sport Witness) ahead of last night’s draw with Bayern Munich.
“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.
He added: “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.”
While Jesus may not be fully fit, he proved he’s still capable of making a difference for Arsenal. His mazy dribble through Bayern’s defence ended with a nice lay-off to Leandro Trossard who grabbed an important equaliser.
Looking further ahead, Jesus’ fitness issues will no doubt inform the Gunners’ transfer business in the summer. It’s no secret that striker is a position we’d like to strengthen even if Kai Havertz has played the role to great effect in recent weeks.
Painful stuff for him, and us, given what he brings to the team. Hope he survives until the summer and gets it sorted then.
Heck of a cameo! As soon as he entered we were more threatening in the final third again (if not still a bit open against the counter). The technique on that assist is simply world class. This lingering knee issue is a major concern – hope he holds up. We 1000% need him if we’re going to win a trophy this season.
Himself and Zinny showed why they are valuable to this team last night. Many of our players looked overawed with the occassion last night — understandable, given it’s their first time at this stage. But them two came in and showed their experience and calmed the team down a lot, I felt. Hopefully, Gabby is able to continue to contribute till the end of the season because we need him!
“Himself and Trossard”…there, fixed it for you.
all three subs had a positive impact.
“He and Trossard,” actually.
Trossard is Stone Cold Steve Austin- an assassin of sorts with the the ball.😀
The only respect I have for Rooney is in this area. At age 17, he didn’t care who you were at what occasions.
what if you were portugal at a major international tournament
What a player. I think last night, particularly the first half, showed two things that we had in abundance last season that have been missing this year – central ball progression and a mobile number 9. We’re much better against the big teams this year, as evidenced by our results vs Liverpool and City, but last season we blew deep blocks away thanks to guys like Zinchenko, Partey and Jesus. Porto showed the blueprint on how to nullify us and if the famous Bayern were willing to copy it you can bet United, Spurs, Chelsea et all will too. If… Read more »
We need a striker to replace Eddie in the summer, and not a young prospect but someone who can challenge for that position immediately. I like the look of Gyokeres because he has a lot to his game, not only goal scoring.
As we saw yesterday, Jesus is virtually irreplaceable pin this squad with what he brings. Let’s hope he gets the medical procedure he needs in the summer as we’ll need him for our title defence next season.
It makes you wonder why the surgery was not successful before. You’d imagine they have the best facilities.
I really hope he takes the summer off, instead of wrecking his knee for Brazil and missing another chunk of next season
Surgery isn’t always a silver bullet. Sometimes it can add other complications.
He brings creativity and experience to the team although he is not a natural goal scorer.
I hope it is a very simple fix and he is ready and raring to go for next season.
Regarding last nights result this is a learning process for Arteta and his team. They will learn to play against teams like Bayern and Madrid the same way they have learned to play against Liverpool and Man City – just a matter of time..
Three months sounds like it could be the meniscus? Would also be the thing most likely to let him continue playing on it – I know from experience.
Well if Rambo leaves we are going to need a back-up keeper. I think we need to consider leftback unless timber is down for the role? We will definitely need some quality in midfield as partey and a few others are likely to leave!! I’d also be thinking about a striker who was playing centrally and as cover for saka!! Who would be good options for each of these positions is another question?
Jesus’s honesty is cool. However some things need to be kept private. You can’t let the enemy know what’s up. Tommy needs to start at left back in the next leg also Party. We’ll be good to go. Same style as against city. This time more patients keeping the ball.
Nobody in Brazil or at Arsenal better even consider letting him play this summer. Surgery as soon as season is over, then rest and rehab only, in London, for 3 months or longer. Sucks for him, but Arsenal pays him to play.
I feel for the guy. Anyone who’s had issues like this will know how much it can affect you when you feel like you can’t rely on on of your joints. When said joint is instrumental to your career and ambitions, that must be even more of a dagger through the heart.
I hope he gets it sorted out in the summer, and who knows, maybe next season we’ll get back the Gabriel Jesus who was so transformative to the club at the start of his tenure.
That knee would come good. You best days have just begun, Jesus.🙏🏾