£72.5m wasted: Arteta must cash in on Arsenal dud who earns more than Saka & Martinelli – Not Zinchenko
Arsenal have several question marks as players begin to complete their international duties. The Gunners saw Bukayo Saka return to the Sobha Realty Training Centre for further tests after a hamstring injury was suffered against Greece.
Gabriel Martinelli, meanwhile, has complained of a calf problem while in Brazil. Mikel Arteta has had a disastrous start to the campaign only in regard to his players’ fitness, while thankfully, his point-collecting ambitions have been the opposite in spite of the challenges.
With Saka and Martinelli as potential doubts for the trip to Bournemouth, other forward options have been brought into the discussion. Raheem Sterling is one player Arteta could pick and having looked spritely since his arrival, the former Manchester City and Liverpool winger has begun to showcase evidence that his promise fans will see the best of him could indeed come true.
Yet Gabriel Jesus is quite the opposite. Eight games, zero goals and zero assists so far is not good reading for the Brazilian who has not joined Martinelli or Gabriel Magalhaes for the national side yet again after his form has led to persistent snubbing by his country.
His minutes have been limited, mainly because of how good Kai Havertz has been in the centre-forward position – scoring in the last seven consecutive games at the Emirates Stadium. However, when he has come on, he has been struggling to convince fans, and more importantly, Arteta, that he deserves to be given greater game time.
That might now be forced on Arteta though with these squad fitness problems. There are seven games between now and the next international break with Jesus in line to play plenty of them and potentially in a variety of roles too.
There is a chance that next summer, with just two years remaining then on his contract, that the club will look toward another forward. There was interest last summer in signing Benjamin Sesko but a deal couldn’t be reached.
Viktor Gyokeres is another name who has been on the club’s radar and with a £84million release clause and the club having a near-net zero summer in terms of spending, there is certainly scope for big investments in the market in the future. Jesus could indeed find himself pushed further down the pecking order and in a moment of needing to find a new club.
