Arsenal thought they had struck gold when they secured the signing of Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City, but two years later, his future looks uncertain.
The 27-year-old has had a frustrating campaign which has been disrupted by injuries and mixed form, with eight goals and seven assists in 33 appearances across all competitions.
In recent months, Kai Havertz has established himself as Mikel Arteta’s first-choice striker, and despite the German’s outstanding form, the club could still bring in a centre-forward with Viktor Gyokeres among the names linked.
It emerged today that Arsenal are reportedly willing to listen to offers for Gabriel Jesus, who joined the club for £45m two years ago, but transfer expert Graeme Bailey has now told Arsenal Insider that this does not necessarily mean he will leave.
Why Gabriel Jesus could still stay at Arsenal this summer
Graeme Bailey has now revealed what Arsenal’s stance is over Jesus, who is on a weekly wage of around £265k per week.
“I don’t really think fitness has a lot to do with Arsenal’s stance over Gabriel Jesus particularly,” the HITC journalist explained, amid concerns that Jesus’ continual injury issues could drive an exit this summer.
“It’s like with every club – I don’t think they’re actively pushing him out, but they know he’s not probably in the starting XI anymore. So when a player isn’t in your starting XI, of course you’re available.
“At Arsenal right now, there’s probably a handful of players who are unsellable at any point in time, at the moment it’s probably William Saliba, Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka.
“If they got a good offer for Jesus, I think it’s interesting timing. We know he’s on good money and they paid a lot of money for him.
“There’s only a handful of clubs in Europe who could afford Jesus. He’s not in the Real Madrid or Barcelona bracket at the moment. Maybe Atletico Madrid could afford him, but he’s not in their thinking.
“Is he going to be on the radar for Saudi Arabia? Quite possibly. I don’t think they’re actively pushing him out, but it’s just logical that when a player isn’t in your starting eleven, he’s available, everyone has a price.”
Arsenal do not need to push Gabriel Jesus out of the club
Arsenal do have a list of players who they would like to sell or release before the start of next season, but Jesus is not a player they would actively push towards the exit door.
Even if a new striker arrives, Jesus can provide quality competition across the entire front three, and his performances in the Champions League this season highlighted how important having someone of his experience in the squad could be.
If Jesus is able to iron out his injury issues in the summer and return to his best level, he could still be a valuable asset for Arsenal. Even if he is not, as it stands there are very few clubs that could pay a satisfying fee to the Gunners, and entice him to join given his salary at the club.
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“Because he’s on such big money, and Arsenal paid a lot of money for him, it puts him out of reach for a lot of Spanish and Italian clubs,” Bailey added.
The Brazil star therefore finds himself in a somewhat difficult position. As it stands, he will not be one of the first names on the teamsheet, like he was in his first few months at the club, but he is in no danger of being frozen out if no offer arrives.
Any offer that comes for Jesus would likely be lower than what Arsenal paid for him, and it seems likely that the attacker would have to take a pay cut if he was to accept a move away from the Emirates Stadium.