A round-up of the latest Arsenal news as Alan Shearer hails an ‘outstanding’ decision and David Seaman reveals the instruction Mikel Arteta has issued the Gunners’ staff.
Gabriel Jesus opens up on the Arsenal striker’s injury woes
Brazil and Arsenal star Gabriel Jesus has admitted that he ‘does not remember’ the last time he played ‘without pain’ due to a long-term knee injury. The 27-year-old is still feeling some effects from the ligament damage he initially sustained whilst at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
Jesus needed surgery for the injury and did not return to Arteta’s side until March 2023. But the forward also required another minor operation after reporting discomfort in the knee in August. He also missed further spells due to the same knee injury this January and February.
A hamstring injury at the end of October also kept Jesus from featuring in an additional five games this season. Yet the ongoing impact of his knee injury remains a key point of focus as Jesus bids to return to full fitness. But he doubts any full return will be possible this season.
“I’m just trying to get fit and help Arsenal as much as I can,” Jesus has admitted, via quotes by The Sun. “Unfortunately, I’ve had some problems this season and I hope next season I don’t have those.
“Sometimes I feel it. I don’t remember the last day I played football without pain, so I cannot complain. I’m just trying to recover well and then that’s it. Mentally, I try to keep strong.”
Read more about what Jesus has said about the Arsenal star’s injury woes, here.
Alan Shearer hails Kai Havertz as an ‘outstanding’ Arsenal signing
Alan Shearer has named Kai Havertz in his latest Premier League Team of the Week and feels the midfielder is now ‘one of the first’ names on Arsenal’s teamsheet. The England hero has praised the 24-year-old after scoring his ninth goal across 30 top-flight outings for the club.
Arteta signed Havertz from London rival Chelsea last summer as he sought to replace Granit Xhaka at Emirates Stadium. The adaptation from west to north London was slow at first for the German. But Havertz has scored five goals through his last seven league matches alone.
Havertz has even offered four of his five assists for the Premier League season so far during Arsenal’s last six games. He offered the latest of those plus a goal in the Gunners’ 3-0 win at Brighton & Hove Albion. Now, Shearer sees the merits of Arsenal’s decision to sign Havertz.
“He’s been incredible for them since the turn of the year, and is now one of the first names on the teamsheet,” Shearer has outlined to the official Premier League website. “He’s been an outstanding signing.”
Read more about what Shearer has said about Havertz and Arsenal, here.
David Seaman reveals Mikel Arteta’s instruction to the Hale End staff
Gunners hero Seaman has revealed that Arteta has instructed the coaching staff in Arsenal’s academy to develop their rising stars with the same playing style as the first-team. Arteta is pushing for a streamlined style across the age ranges to ease transitions into the senior side.
Seaman said on his Seaman Says podcast: “They want the players to play in the exact same way so that if they do get a chance to go into the first-team it’s nothing different for them.
“It’s the way that they play, you know, even down to the goalkeepers… The young lads, they go straight in there without the fear of not being able to handle it tactically… It’s exactly what they’re doing at every level.”
Only Ethan Nwaneri has played in the Premier League this term among the Arsenal academy talents pushing to receive minutes. The 17-year-old has even only featured for 13 minutes in one outing to date. A further seven prospects have made their bench without yet featuring.
Read more about what Seaman has said about Arteta’s order to the Hale End staff, here.