Arsenal might look at Igor Thiago’s numbers at Brentford this season and wonder where it’s going wrong for their own strikers.
Thiago broke Gabriel Martinelli’s scoring record to become the Premier League’s highest-scoring Brazilian in a single campaign.
The fact that Martinelli held the record is a surprise in itself, as right now, it’s difficult to comprehend how the Arsenal winger scored 15 goals in a Premier League season.
Martinelli is one of many Arsenal attackers who are struggling; however, in Thiago’s eyes, the Gunners house one of the best forwards around.
Be honest, how many ELITE forwards do Arsenal actually have?
Igor Thiago loves Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus
Mikel Arteta has a problem to solve in Arsenal’s attack, as for all of the talent that the Gunners possess, the goals just aren’t flowing.
That’s the view of the media; however, when it comes to what those in the Premier League think about Arsenal’s front line, things are different.
In an interview with TNT Sports Brazil, Brentford’s Thiago shared some huge praise for Gabriel Jesus when he was asked which Premier League striker inspires him most.
“I have two: one is Haaland, and the other is Gabriel [Jesus],” he said.
“He’s unbelievable, he has something special about him,” Thiago added, before admitting that Jesus is spoken about a lot behind the scenes at Brentford.
“Everyone talks about it here at the club. The defenders especially say he’s one of the hardest guys they’ve played against.”
Right now, tell us why you would/wouldn’t offer Gabriel Jesus a new contract
At Arsenal, Jesus is known as the most skilful player, making it unsurprising to hear that oppositions dread playing against him.
As for Thiago, his admiration for Jesus extends away from the pitch too, as the Brentford striker admitted that he’s now friends with the fellow Brazilian.
“We’ve become friends, you know?” He said of Jesus.
“I’ll put it like that. We had that first contact, he came to my house, and then that friendship started.”
Gabriel Jesus’ quality has always been overlooked because of his goals
Jesus has only recorded four starts in all competitions this season due to returning from injury.
Injuries have undoubtedly had a negative impact on the forward’s career, with the other being his lack of goal-scoring output.
How many goals will Gabriel Jesus score from now until the end of the season? Will he outscore Viktor Gyokeres?
For all of the quality Jesus has, he’ll never be that prolific goalscorer, which stems back to when he was at Manchester City.
In 2021, Pep Guardiola said that Jesus is ‘amazing’ despite not being a headline-maker in terms of his goal-scoring.
“We know he is not in the statistical highlights, but what he does is amazing,” Guardiola said, as per Man City’s official website.
“Strikers live for the goal. But how many assists has he done? He was brilliant, like he has been all season.”
Arsenal have one of the best strikers around, it’s just typical for the Gunners that he’s not a forward who can be relied on to put the ball in the back of the net.
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