Jamie Redknapp says it’s ‘terrible news’ for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta that they are going to be without Gabriel Jesus because of injury.
The former Liverpool midfielder thinks Arsenal are at a ‘big disadvantage’ as a result of losing their star man during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Such is Arsenal’s luck that, even though their summer signing wasn’t a regular starter for Brazil in Qatar, when he was handed that first chance to start during the group stages, he ended up suffering ligament damage and needing surgery.
The only positive to come out of all of this is that Arteta and Co. have had a few weeks to react because the World Cup was still on-going when it happened.
But with Premier League football set to resume on Boxing Day, as well as the January transfer window opening, something needs to be done ASAP.
The issue facing the Premier League leaders is that they are going to need someone to come in and hit the ground running, or else, they could find themselves in big trouble, as Redknapp shared his thoughts on Sky Sports News (20/12/22).
“The biggest disadvantage by far is Arsenal because of losing Jesus,” said Redknapp. “What that would do to the team, only time will tell.
“I think right now, that’s a major problem for Mikel Arteta. He would have looked at that and thought ‘out of all the players I didn’t want to lose, it would have been him’.
“It’s not his goals, it’s more what he does for the team. He goes and chases and presses. Wins the ball. Sets the tempo as a striker. He’s a player they haven’t had for so long. And that’s terrible news for this Arsenal team.
“How are they going to react? You are going to buy someone in the window. It’s not as easy as that to find a player of his calibre.”
WHO SHOULD ARSENAL SIGN?
Last January, Arteta booted Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang out of the door, and whilst he made the right call to let him go, not bringing in a replacement was costly.
The same mistake can’t be made because Pep Guardiola’s dominant Manchester City will just eat them up and they will start to fall.
The issue here is, who can they bring in to fill that void? Highly-rated Dutch star Cody Gakpo? Or even Joao Felix, who is expected to leave Atletico Madrid next month?
Or maybe, Arteta keeps faith in Eddie Nketiah, who is the back-up option to Jesus and the Hale-End star also recently signed a new deal.
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