Gabriel Jesus is back in contention to play for Arsenal.
The Brazil international hasn’t played a minute of senior football since tearing his ACL in a game against Manchester United in January this year.
The initial diagnosis was that the striker would not play again in 2025. That is why Arsenal left Jesus out of their Champions League squad.
However, the former Manchester City star has been added back into the squad following Max Dowman’s injury. Because of that, his private prediction has come true.
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Gabriel Jesus told everyone at Arsenal that he would make an early return from injury
Gabriel Jesus is a very popular member of the Arsenal squad.
The Brazil international has been written off by many fans because of his injury issues, but everyone within the club still rates him very highly.
Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri think Jesus is the most skilful player at the club, while his compatriot, Gabriel Martinelli, thinks Jesus is one of the best strikers in the world.
Now, after exploiting UEFA’s new rule, Arsenal have included Jesus in their Champions League squad, which is a bit of a surprise, as nobody at the club expected him to be back this early.
However, Arteta has revealed that Jesus kept telling everyone that he would be back sooner than expected, and that has proved to be right.
The Arsenal manager said in his press conference, as per HaytersTV: “We have the situation of Gabi [Jesus], who we were expecting to be training with us by the end of December.
“But Gabi has been pushing every single day, and he kept telling everybody: ‘I am going to be earlier, earlier, earlier!’ And he has done it.
“So thanks to his work and all the work that the medical staff have done in all these months, and we had the possibility to make a swap there, and we have done it.”
Jesus has flown over to Belgium with the rest of the Arsenal first-team squad and is available for selection against Club Brugge in the Champions League.
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Gabriel Jesus could be Arsenal’s unlikely hero in the Champions League
Many Arsenal fans felt that Jesus would never play for the club again.
The Gunners have Viktor Gyokeres, Kai Havertz and Mikel Merino up top, while Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli can also play there.
Jesus is not ahead of any of those names, but with injuries massively affecting the Arsenal squad, the Brazilian could get some game time.
We don’t expect Jesus to play in the important Champions League games, but the striker’s ability in tight spaces inside the box makes him a very difficult player to defend against.
That could help the Gunners in certain fixtures, and we won’t be surprised at all if he has a positive impact in Europe this season.
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