Gabriel Jesus admits he signed for Arsenal to be a No.9 but is happy to play wherever Mikel Arteta wants him to
Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus has admitted he signed for Arsenal so he could be a No.9 but has now accepted he is happy to play wherever Mikel Arteta wants him to.
Though he is naturally a centre-forward and wears the No.9 shirt for the Gunners, Jesus has been utilised all across the forward line so far this season. He has made five starts across all competitions so far, playing as the centre-forward twice, a left-winger twice and as a right-winger once.
But while he scored on both his starts playing centrally, he hasn’t made a single goal contribution from out wide yet, and neither has the man who has displaced him as the main striker: Eddie Nketiah.
Jesus’ Preferred Position
As a result, many fans believe Arteta is wasting Jesus as a winger and want him deployed only as a striker, but there have also been reports that Arsenal could sign a new No.9 in January, with Brentford’s Ivan Toney closely linked.
But Jesus himself has now spoken out about his preferred position while on international duty with Brazil, saying: ‘It’s worth pointing out that I’ve been playing a lot of roles at Arsenal. Obviously when I chose to move from [Manchester] City to Arsenal, Edu and Arteta spoke to me, and I made it clear that I’d like to play 9. That was Arsenal’s idea, for me to play 9, loose.
‘This season has been different, we’ve had injuries and in the last few games I’ve played three up front. For a while, I thought I’d just say I wanted to play 9, but I’m here to help the team.
‘I’m blessed by God to have this talent and the versatility to play in all three forward positions. I prefer not to choose.’
Injuries Have Forced Jesus Out Wide
As Jesus correctly points out, the decision to play out wide has at times been enforced by injuries to his teammates, more specifically to Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard and most recently Bukayo Saka.
Though Jesus may not be firing in the goals as much as expected, he has helped Arsenal maintain an unbeaten start to the Premier League season which has left them second in the table, behind Spurs only on goals scored.
He’ll now be hoping to help Brazil continue their winning start to World Cup 2026 qualifying as they prepare to face Venezuela and Uruguay. Once he’s back from international duty, he and Arsenal will face a tricky test away to London rivals Chelsea on 21st October.
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