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Mikel Arteta can unleash forgotten £45m Arsenal star next season amid Premier League title plan

Gabriel Jesus remains a key part of Mikel Arteta's Arsenal plans for the forthcoming season
-Credit: (Image: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)


There has been such a focus on Arsenal moving for a striker during the transfer window, that some have quickly forgotten the existing options at the club for next season. These will become more in focus as the market develops with no clear and standout option currently being approached.

The renewal of Benjamin Sesko’s contract at RB Leipzig earlier in the month has put the brakes on any subsequent move for a forward. Viktor Gyokeres and Victor Osimhen have both been mentioned as potential alternatives but would cost a considerable amount potentially reaching as high as €100million (£86million) in transfer fees.

Kai Havertz was the established starting number nine for the Gunners come the end of the campaign and finished the season how he had hoped to start it, scoring a late winner against Everton. Despite it not being a fairytale finish to a title-winning campaign, the German international’s performances were understood by football.london to have had a significant effect on the club’s plans for the position.

Leandro Trossard has also been a key player under Mikel Arteta and scored in a number of high-profile games. The Belgian can and has played through the middle and his versatility remains an asset to the north London club.

However, perhaps the most forgotten player at the club remains Gabriel Jesus. Having suffered several issues with a knee issue suffered at the last World Cup, the Brazilian international was not called up to the current Copa America side and has been doing some summer work to stay fit.

Goals have always been the biggest question mark for the centre-forward and that is shown in the number in comparison to his peers. However, should he stay fit and find some rhythm, there is no doubt that the quality is there it is whether he can produce it.

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Speaking to football.london after the 6-0 Champions League win over RC Lens in which he scored for the fourth time in the competition, he explained the pressure of playing both with links and against top competition. This now translates eerily similarly to his current situation.

“This happens you know, maybe it can be agents talking about a lot of things,” he said. “I am not the most experienced, but I think I have seen a lot of things in football.

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“Sometimes it is like this, it happened when I was at City even with [Sergio] Aguero and me scoring. I was scoring a lot and people was linking everyone.

“So here, I don’t care about this. I know what are my qualities and I know what I can bring to the team.”

He may need to bring those qualities to different roles this forthcoming season. With the need to provide cover for Bukayo Saka, should a centre forward be added, it may be that the Brazilian looks to play in wide roles as he did to varying degrees of success at Manchester City.