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Former West Ham United striker Frank McAvennie has claimed that Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus will have to fight for his place when he returns from injury. The Brazil international suffered ligament damage while representing Selecao at the 2022 FIFA World Cup and underwent surgery.
However, the Gunners have hardly missed the former Manchester City star, with Eddie Nketiah filling in admirably in his absence.
The former Scotland striker Frank McAvennie has claimed that Gabriel Jesus has not been missed by Arsenal. The Scotsman has insisted that the Brazilian will have to fend off competition from Eddie Nketiah in order to reclaim his place.
McAvennie told Football Insider:
"I do not think they have missed him. Nketiah is scoring goals and you can see Arteta was able to bring that out of him. Jesus coming back is competition now. Arsenal changed as soon as him and [Oleksandr] Zinchenko came from Man City."
McAvennie also hailed the duo of Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus for transforming the Gunners' dressing room after arriving from Manchester City in the summer. He added:
"Two winners walked into that dressing room and just changed the direction of everyone in there. There are a lot of young players in that squad who do not have that much experience. So Jesus coming back, he has been there, seen it done it.“
Gabriel Jesus made an immediate impact following his £45 million move to Arsenal in the summer. The Brazilian scored five goals and provided seven assists in 20 outings across competitions for the Gunners prior to his injury.
Mikel Arteta's side have done pretty well in Jesus' absence up front, with Eddie Nketiah doing a pretty commendable job. The Englishman is the north London giants' top scorer in all competitions.
Nketiah has nine goals in 27 games although most of his earlier appearances were only off the bench. He has scored four league goals in six starts for the Premier League leaders in Jesus' absence.
Arsenal join race for midfielder who is also wanted by Barcelona as Sergio Busquets' replacement
Arsenal have reportedly joined Barcelona in the race to sign Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi. The Spain international is thought to be considered the ideal successor to Sergio Busquets by the Blaugrana.
However, Arteta's side have now also joined the race to land the 24-year-old who looks destined to leave the Anoeta Stadium in the summer.
It should be noted that the Gunners signed midfielder Jorginho in the winter transfer window from Chelsea after losing out on their primary target Moises Caicedo.
