Arsenal star ‘doesn’t remember’ playing ‘without pain’ in honest injury admission

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An Arsenal star has now admitted that he ‘does not remember’ the last time that he ‘played without pain’ following repeated spells on the sidelines at Emirates stadium.

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has largely relied on just a small group of players across the term. But fitness problems have also regularly left the Spaniard without a clutch of important men as Arsenal push for their first Premier League title in 20 years, and in the Champions League.

Arteta has so far utilised just 25 players in all competitions through the north London giant’s 31 games to date. Only 13 of those have also played more than 1,000 minutes and four have even played less than an hour. William Saliba (2,790) has played the most minutes this term.

Nine Arsenal players have faced substantial injury issues this season

Star summer signing Jurrien Timber is among the batch of Arsenal players to have played for less than one hour after suffering his ACL injury 50 minutes into his Premier League debut in August. But he has simply been the headline absentee at Emirates Stadium during 2023/24.

Arteta has also faced prolonged spells without Gabriel Jesus (knee and hamstring), Takehiro Tomiyasu (calf), Thomas Partey (groin, thigh), Gabriel Martinelli (hamstring, foot), Oleksandr Zinchenko (calf), Emile Smith Rowe (knee), Mohamed Elneny (knee) and Fabio Vieira (groin).

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Their injury problems have helped to keep Jesus to 1,281 minutes, Tomiyasu to 686, Partey to 367, Martinelli to 1,819, Zinchenko to 1,589, Smith Rowe to 313, Elneny to 25 and Vieira to 283 from a potential 2,790. Academy sensation Ethan Nwaneri (13) has played the fewest.

Gabriel Jesus ‘does not remember’ playing without pain due to his injury woes

Jesus’ injury woes even date back to the 2022 World Cup when the Arsenal striker sustained knee ligament damage while representing Brazil in Qatar. It forced the 27-year-old to require surgery which sidelined him until March 2023. But he has suffered further setbacks, as well.

Arsenal sent Jesus for another operation minor operation last August that saw him miss the start of the season. He even suffered another aggravation this January which came home to roost in February. Arteta was also without their striker in November with a hamstring injury.

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Now, Jesus has admitted that he ‘does not remember’ the last time he featured without any pain in his knee. The Sao Paulo native is desperate to help Arsenal as much as he can and to finally get fully fit again. But Jesus also feels he ‘cannot complain’ about the occasional pain.

“I’m just trying to get fit and help Arsenal as much as I can,” Jesus admitted, via quotes by The Sun. “Unfortunately, I’ve had some problems this season and I hope next season I don’t have those.

“Sometimes I feel it. I don’t remember the last day I played football without pain, so I cannot complain. I’m just trying to recover well and then that’s it. Mentally, I try to keep strong in my mind.”