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Brazilian football pundit and presenter Neto has taken a dig at Arsenal and mocked his compatriot Gabriel Jesus for joining the north London club. He also chastised Jesus' performances with the Brazil national team.
The Gunners announced the signing of the former Manchester City forward on July 4 for a £45 million fee.
Brazilian pundit Neto took note of this transfer and called the north London outfit a 'small club' based on their trophy track record in recent years.
He said, via SportWitness:
“I saw that Gabriel Jesus went to Arsenal. Small club. Small club. Portuguesa Santista are bigger than them. Arsenal have won what in the last five years?"
The last five years have indeed been topsy-turvy for the Gunners. Two FA Cup wins (2017 and 2020) are the only major pieces of silverware the north London club has lifted in that period.
They saw Arsene Wenger depart after a 22-year long stint with the club in 2018. Then began the Unai Emery era, which did not bring many happy memories either. Finally, the owners of the club seem to have invested their trust in Mikel Arteta and are backing his process.
Neto is not a big fan of the 25-year-old forward and has questioned his spot in the Brazil squad for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, suggesting that Flamengo striker Gabigol should instead be preferred.
The pundit said:
"Then Gabriel Jesus, who broke through at Palmeiras, five years at Manchester City, two years without scoring for the Brazilian national team, do you think he deserves to go to the World Cup? Or Gabigol? Who is good at ball? Who’s been scoring a lot of goals for five years?”
Before scoring in a friendly game against South Korea last month, the Arsenal No. 9's previous goal for Brazil came in 2019. He failed to score a single goal for Selecao in nearly three years.
Apart from the FA Cup wins, Arsenal have won the Community Shield twice in the last five years. Indeed, Neto's parameter of comparison is quite high. Jesus, after all, arrived at the Emirates as a proud four-time Premier League winner during his stint with Manchester City.
Former Premier League striker suggests Arsenal to re-sign forward to bolster their attacking ranks
Former Leeds and Crystal Palace striker Noel Whelan wants Mikel Arteta's side to swoop in for the signature of Serge Gnabry. The Bayern Munich forward, who was at the Emirates from 2013 to 2016, is in the final year of contract with the German giants and has not yet agreed to an extension.
The club have failed to agree personal terms with the winger, who is looking for a salary figure that the Bavarians are unwilling to offer him. This is being seen as Arsenal's opportunity to plot his return to the Emirates.
Whelan told Football Insider:
“It would be a smart move. He’s got a year left so it would be a good deal for a very good international player – and someone who has played at the very highest level.
"I believe he would just further improve that attacking flair at Arsenal – even if they’re already so strong in that final third. They need to replace certain players and Gnabry is someone I think would light up the Premier League.”
