‘His fighting spirit, his desire’ – Arteta says Arsenal star is ready for bigger role following return | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta says Gabriel Jesus is ready to start games again for Arsenal having recently returned from a long-term injury.

The striker was sidelined for a year with an ACL injury but has now made three appearances off the bench.

And Arteta says he is ready to play a bigger role for his side, ahead of the Carabao Cup quarter-final against Crystal Palace.

“Yes, he is,” the Arsenal boss responded when asked if he is ready to start.

“And you can tell that, you can see now, not only in games, every day in training, how much he wants it. So he’s going to deserve a chance soon.”

Asked if he has been surprised at how quickly Jesus has adapted to being back playing, Arteta said: “No, because I watched him when he was seven months already on the pitch and the way he was moving and how much he wanted it.

“I think he wrote a beautiful letter, explaining what football means to him and how it affects his life.  And I think it was something beautiful.”

Arteta also says Jesus can offer his side something completely different to his other forwards.

“I think that’s probably the biggest quality of Gabi, bringing people together, connecting with people, generating a lot of uncertainty in the opponent,” he said.

“When you see him today (against Everton), the amount of spaces that he was involved in, that’s his biggest quality. So we need to exploit that.

“I think his fighting spirit, his desire to always prepare the best way is unbelievable. And the team has got it now and we need to use it.”