‘I really believe’… Gabriel Jesus makes interesting claim about his lack of minutes at Arsenal

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When Arsenal signed Gabriel Jesus in 2022, the Brazilian striker was arriving from Manchester City to become Mikel Arteta’s key man.

A four-time Premier League winner, Jesus put a lot of faith in Arteta’s project at Arsenal, he took a risk leaving Pep Guardiola’s winning machine behind.

Since, Jesus hasn’t quite achieved what he may have hoped at the Emirates Stadium, but he has been part of a team which has improved exponentially.

However, that progress has left Jesus watching on – Kai Havertz is now seen as a much more complete option.

To that end, Jesus has only played 113 minutes in the Premier League this season, and his only goal came against Preston North End in the EFL Cup.

Gabriel Jesus says he’s desperate to improve and win his spot back at Arsenal

After Mikel Merino’s poor first half performance, Jesus was introduced against Inter Milan at half-time on Wednesday evening.

Jesus was lively in his minutes, but ultimately probably didn’t do too much in terms of changing Arteta’s team thoughts for the trip to Chelsea.

READ MORE: £28m ‘flop’ could be the new Kai Havertz at Arsenal, and that’s not a compliment

That being said, Jesus spoke to TNT Sports after the game and discussed his situation.

Translated from Portuguese, Jesus was asked how he’s feeling at Arsenal right now.

He responded: “Good. I believe that not only me but any player, all players want to have more minutes. I will obviously never cause anything inside the club.

“I’ll try to demonstrate it everyday in training and when I enter games and have my opportunity I trust that things will happen.

“It’s very clear that I want to improve and that I want to try to do the best I can and help Arsenal.

“Obviously this moment is not my best, it is not the moment I wanted, but as I said, I’m working my best to go back to having more minutes to play.

“But that’s a consequence of my training, it’s a consequence of the way I enter and leave [the pitch], and I leave the decision to the coach.

“I really believe in my potential and I also know that the fight for positions here at Arsenal is big, but I really believe I can help a lot.”

Mikel Arteta has already told Gabriel Jesus what he needs to do improve

Speaking before Arsenal lost to Bournemouth just after the international break, Arteta has seemingly already told Jesus what he needs to do in order to play more often.

Arteta praised the fitness of the Brazilian in pre-season, but also referenced a slight injury that proved to be a real set-back.

Arteta said: “He came on in a great shape, probably in the best condition he’s been with us.

“He was flying in pre-season and unfortunately he got that injury straight away that affected him for a few weeks.

“He put again a lot of work into it to come back and now he needs to get the rhythm. He’s playing a few games, he’s started two games in a row vs Atalanta and Bolton, he’s come on against Southampton.

“So yeah, he’s there. Now he needs to earn the right to play more. He’s got our full support, he’s a player that can play in various positions and he’s a really important player for us.”