If Arsenal are already a little short in one key area, Mikel Arteta’s Premier League giants were always unlikely to countenance leaving themselves with even fewer options.
Kai Havertz’s emergence as a genuinely top-class number nine not only left the German’s doubters choking on humble pie, it also helped to offset the concern many Arsenal supporters have been airing for some time now.
Havertz became The Gunners’ first-choice centre-forward through necessity as much as anything else, really.
With the now-departed Eddie Nketiah clearly not up to the challenge and as Gabriel Jesus struggles for fitness and form in Arsenal red, the £65 million signing from Chelsea belatedly seized the chance to make the position his own.
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Arsenal refused to let Gabriel Jesus return to Palmeiras
As for Gabriel Jesus, it’s fair to say the Brazil international is not exactly breathing down Havertz’s neck.
Jesus has started only one Premier League game all season. He is yet to score in 10 appearances across all competitions. In fact, since the start of 2023/24, the £45 million benchwarmer has a grand total of just four in 30 top-flight outings.
Statistics which back up claims by Chris Sutton that Gabriel Jesus simply isn’t a ‘natural finisher’.
But with Arsenal competing on multiple fronts – and with Arteta understanding the need to keep his squad fresh – the London giants were quick to dismiss any attempts from Brazilian giants Palmeiras to take Jesus back to the club where he started his career as a prodigious young talent.
“We got in touch with Arsenal,” Palmeiras president Leila Pereira tells O Globo. “But they soon said; ‘Leila, there is no condition [in which we let Gabriel Jesus go]. We are not going to negotiate the player’.
“So, Gabriel Jesus is not coming.
“Our squad is made up of players who are already with us and are extremely successful. There are some positions that Abel [Ferriera, the Palmeiras manager] would like to strengthen.
“But I’ll tell you right now; Forget about [signing a] star. The great star of Palmeiras is the squad. I don’t believe in idols. What wins titles is the squad. It’s the team.”
Mikel Arteta is backing Jesus to find form again for The Gunners
Arsenal will, of course, be taking a similar approach.
Without a megastar number nine like, say Erling Haaland at Manchester City, The Gunners will once again look to share the goals around this term.
Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli and the aforementioned Havertz are all capable of reaching double figures, while Jesus should have plenty of opportunities to rediscover his 2022/23 form during a long old season.
Arteta, meanwhile, continues to bemoan a setback which left Jesus playing catch-up again during the summer.
“He came on in a great shape, probably in the best condition he’s been with us,” Arteta said earlier in October. “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 started two games in a row versus Atalanta [in the Champions League] and Bolton [in the EFL Cup].
“He came 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.”
It remains to be seen if Jesus plays any part as Arsenal host Premier League pacesetters Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.