Why Gabriel Jesus' 'goalscoring' comments prove Arsenal NEED a new striker

Suraj Radia

24 Nov 2023 20:50 GMT
3 min read

Gabriel Jesus raised eyebrows this week when the forward admitted goalscoring is ‘not his strongest suit’, perhaps further indicating why Arsenal could benefit from an alternative to the Brazilian up front.

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Jesus has been integral to Arsenal since his €52 million move from Manchester City last summer and initially scored five goals in his opening eight Premier League games for his new club.

However, the 26-year-old has only netted seven times in his subsequent 25 league games, which have been sandwiched by injuries, and Jesus’ goal record for his country has also been called into question following a run of just one goal in his last 25 caps.

The criticism led to Jesus telling Brazilian media: “Scoring goals is inevitable (but) it is not my strongest suit. I play to score a goal, that's why I'm in the national team. Scoring goals (again) will happen naturally.”

While Jesus remains defiant and still continues to contribute to club and country outside of goalscoring, Arsenal’s lack of a natural, proven goalscorer has undoubtedly cost them in the narrow margins of Premier League success.

Mikel Arteta appears content with Jesus and Eddie Nketiah as his striking options, at least until a suitable upgrade presents itself, but Arsenal owe it to themselves to sign a forward who actually does see scoring goals as their strong suit if they have true ambitions of the Premier League title.

Why numbers do not tell the whole story for Gabriel Jesus

On paper, Jesus’ record of scoring 70 times in 192 Premier League games – roughly 0.36 goals per game – is commendable, especially considering Jesus has a superior ratio when taking minutes into account, given that he has often come off the bench or been substituted during a full match.

But it is also important context to note that Jesus has played in some of the most cohesive attacking units in Premier League history during his time at City, while Arsenal also create good chances for their forwards.

Indeed, Jesus has underperformed his xG during his time in England, having been predicted to score 93 goals from his chances – 23 more than his actual total.

© ProShots - Gabriel Jesus has scored just once in the league this season.

Jesus’ disappointing conversion rate has followed him throughout his career and he has often spoken of his preference to play out wide, while Nketiah’s record of 0.18 goals per game is certainly underwhelming even when considering his limited minutes played.

The likes of Dusan Vlahovic and Ivan Toney have been linked with the Gunners and, although they may be flawed targets in some ways, their purpose for their teams is to score goals and neither would suggest otherwise – a ruthlessness that Arsenal’s strikers perhaps lack.

Ultimately Arsenal simply cannot afford to rest on their laurels if they wish to go one step better than their runners up finish last season and Jesus’ comments should give Arteta his clearest indication yet as to why his side need to sign a striker or risk living in regret at opportunities missed both on and off the pitch.