Arsenal star surprisingly admits his weakness as £80m transfer is mooted – ‘not my strong point’

Arsenal and Brazil forward Gabriel Jesus has admitted that goalscoring is not his “strong point” amid reports linking the Gunners with Ivan Toney.

The Gunners paid around £45m to sign Jesus from Premier League rivals Manchester City ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.

Jesus enjoyed a strong debut season at Arsenal as he grabbed 11 goals and six assists in the Premier League but he was limited to 26 appearances in the league.

His injury woes have carried over into this season and he only has one goal in four Premier League starts. He is also struggling at international level as he is without a goal in Brazil’s first five World Cup qualifiers.

Last time out, Brazil were beaten 1-0 by arch-rivals Argentina. Post-match, Jesus admitted that scoring goals is not his “strong point”.

“There are things that bothered me a lot in the post-2018 World Cup cycle. I was younger, I had a different mind,” Jesus said in an interview with Terra.

“Today I am a more mature man, more educated, a family man. I understand football is a priority for me, and I know I need to be well to do my best, especially in the Brazilian team.

“There are things that I don’t control. I train, I look for, I try, I move, I help the team. The goal is inevitable.

“I believe it’s not my strong point, but I score goals and I’m there to score goals. When I come back, it will happen.

“It’s work. I work quietly, I’m not one to respond to criticism, I’m not one to be happy for praise. I was, I won’t be anymore.”

Arsenal currently have Jesus, Eddie Nketiah and Kai Havertz to choose from in attacking areas but they are being linked with an £80m move for Brentford striker Toney ahead of January.

Despite this, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta recently lauded Jesus, who “changed their world last season”.

“He is a tremendous player,” Arteta said.

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“A really important player for us. He changed our world last season. You could all see that. He is going to be a really important player for us.

“I think he brought a different energy, a different belief, a different threat, a different fear to opponents. And he did it in a really natural way and I think he contributed hugely to the step that we had last season.

“He tracks a lot of attention and players in the way he plays and creates space for others and that’s a big quality.

“When you sign a player you know, who has done it in the league and he’s got the hunger to join us for the right reasons – it was a no-brainer for us to do it and we could see the impact he had straight away in the team.”