Mikel Arteta reacts to Gabriel Jesus' impact at Arsenal
By Tom Gott
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has admitted that he did not expect summer signing Gabriel Jesus to make such an immediate impact at the club.
A £45m signing from Manchester City, Jesus enjoyed an immense pre-season with Arsenal in which he netted seven goals in just five games, leading the Gunners to five consecutive victories and thumping wins over Chelsea and Sevilla.
Jesus will get his first taste of competition action in an Arsenal shirt on Friday when the Premier League season gets underway with their trip to Crystal Palace, ahead of which Arteta had plenty of kind words for his new forward.
"When you bring in top players who are coming from top clubs where they have been extremely successful over the years, they are going to expect that expectation," Arteta said. "The role Gabriel has here is going to be very different to the role he had at his previous club, that needs some adaptation and some time.
"He's done it fantastically well, we are surprised how quickly he has done it, but we have to share that responsibility.
Listen now to The Chronicles of a Gooner, 90min's Arsenal podcast! On Thursday's edition, Harry Symeou looks ahead to Arsenal kicking off their 2022/23 Premier League campaign against Patrick Vieira's Crystal Palace.
"He's an enormous talent, a player with mentality that is so contagious, and he is going to give us a lot, but it is a team contribution at the end of the day."
Arteta was not the only person to heap praise on Jesus. Midfielder Emile Smith Rowe recently revealed the Brazilian has been just as impressive in training, describing his new team-mate as 'ridiculous'.
"I think Gabriel Jesus... I didn't actually realise how sharp he was," Smith Rowe told FIVE. "Obviously playing against him it's different, you see him watching Man City before. But when you actually see him in training....
"I've been telling my friends, they're always asking, and I'm like 'he's ridiculous'. Everyone in the team is really excited for the new season and the fans should be as well I think."
