Arsenal have produced a superb performance having beaten Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 at the Emirates Stadium with Gabriel Jesus catching the eye.
The Gunners are back from their trip to the United States and the preparation for the new Premier League season is now really gearing up.
Facing Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen – unbeaten champions at that – gave Arsenal a great test and they passed with flying colours.
Oleksandr Zinchenko and Leandro Trossard had Arsenal 2-0 up inside 10 minutes as the Gunners threatened to run riot.
Gabriel Jesus added number three before Kai Havertz added a fourth against his former club.
Adam Hlozek pulled one back but this was Arsenal’s evening as Mikel Arteta beat his old friend Xabi Alonso in style.
Mikel Arteta on Gabriel Jesus
This was a big performance from Jesus as he enters his third season as an Arsenal player.
The Brazilian was involved in Trossard’s goal before drifting past the Leverkusen defence to squeeze a shot into the net from outside of the box.
Jesus was tireless as ever but had the end product to match – something which hasn’t always been the case.
Arteta was certainly impressed with Jesus and not just because of his performance against Leverkusen.
Speaking to The Telegraph’s Sam Dean, Arteta admitted that he has seen ‘something different’ in Jesus this summer.
Arteta noted that he could ‘sense’ a change in Jesus as soon as he returned for pre-season training this summer.
Arteta feels that Jesus is now showing a different energy and looks different in terms of his athletic shape and the way he moves.
“The first feeling when I saw him [this summer], it was something different. I could sense it. The energy was different. The way he looks is different. The way he moves is different… he looks good,” said Arteta.
These comments follow similar praise from Arteta after Jesus scored against Manchester United in July.
Arteta suggested that Jesus has ‘changed a lot of things’ this summer and looks to be in ‘top condition’.
Jesus needs a big season
This is really encouraging stuff for Arsenal and Jesus with the striker needing a big campaign.
Jesus was impressive in his first season at Arsenal but recorded just four Premier League goals last season.
That is a pretty poor return for a player like Jesus, who has the quality to score on a regular basis.
Arsenal have been looking at other strikers this summer and missed out on a move to sign Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig.
Jesus started training early, heading back to former club Palmeiras for a tune-up ahead of Arsenal’s pre-season.
That appears to be paying dividends and Jesus is now pushing to break back into Arsenal’s attack ahead of the new season.
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