Former Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor is far from popular at the Emirates Stadium, but he has now given his insight on fellow forward Gabriel Jesus.
Adebayor was an excellent striker when at his best for Arsenal, before a contentious move to Manchester City, and later rivals Tottenham Hotspur made him a deeply disliked figure amongst the Arsenal fanbase.
Adebayor scored 62 times in 142 games for Arsenal, and was a key part of the 2007-08 side which arguably should have won the league, but finished four points off first place.
He was a clinical striker at his best, and he would aim to get on the end of chances provided by the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Tomas Rosicky.
Emmanuel Adebayor criticises Gabriel Jesus
Adebayor, like Gabriel Jesus, has played for both Arsenal and Manchester City in his career, albeit with far less success than the Brazilian.
Nevertheless, he has told TalkSPORT that Arsenal need a striker who, unlike Jesus, gets on the end of chances as a poacher, rather than focusing on impacting build-up play, if they want to win the Premier League.
“The problem with Arsenal is, even when I was there, I’d love to play football, to come in the middle and be part of the game because technically I’m not that bad,” he stated.
“But now they have the same thing in Jesus. Jesus also likes to come to the ball, and I think to win the league they need a striker who can just be in front of the goal, who doesn’t care how many touches of the ball he has during the game, he just cares about finishing.
“Like Haaland, like Aguero, Aguero doesn’t touch the ball that much, but when he is on the ball he gets it in the zone where he can be very dangerous. So I think Arsenal definitely need a striker.
“Since Jesus came back he has not been the same, so they need a striker who doesn’t care apart coming out to be part of the game.”
Criticism of Gabriel Jesus is unfair
Despite scoring in all of his Champions League starts this season, Jesus’ finishing ability has been criticised, and many pundits have claimed that Arsenal should aim to sign a more clinical striker in the January transfer window.
Jesus has been sensational since his arrival from City last year, scoring 17 and assisting 11 times in 50 appearances. Whilst this is not the most clinical record, his impact on the Arsenal attack sometimes cannot be measured by stats.
Under Mikel Arteta, Jesus often drops deeper to contribute in build-up, and this has helped Arsenal spread goals around the team. When a poacher in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was leading the line for Arsenal, he was criticised for not contributing enough outside of the box.
If Arsenal can keep Gabriel Jesus fit, then he will still produce strong output in front of goal, but crucially the likes of Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli will all benefit from his presence upfront.
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