Mikel Arteta says ‘tremendous’ signing of Gabriel Jesus has ‘changed Arsenal’s world’

Jesus joined Arsenal last summer, joining from Manchester City for a fee of around £45 million and scoring 11 goals last season.

The striker has hit the ground running in the current campaign, finding the net against Manchester United in a 3-1 win before the international break after missing the start of the season with a knee injury .

Jesus is now pushing to start on Sunday when Arsenal travel to Everton, and Arteta has praised the impact he has had on the team.

“I think he brought a different energy, a different belief, a different threat, a different fear to the opponents,” Arteta said, describing Jesus’ impact since his signing.

“And he did it in a really natural way. He contributed enormously to the progress we made last season.

“If you look at the last six or seven months of Gabi, with the long-term injury that he had and the amount of football that he missed, then he came back in pre-season and he started to find his feet again. pace – and then he had another injury, another operation. So we have to build him up.

“He’s a great player, a really important player for us. He changed our world last season. You could all see that. He’s going to be a really important player for us.

Arteta praised Jesus for bringing ‘chaos’ to Arsenal’s attack and he hopes that will be the case on Sunday.

The Gunners have lost their last five league matches at Goodison Park, scoring just twice in that period.

“In certain areas of the pitch I love it (the chaos),” Arteta said. “In other areas, I hate it!”

“So that’s where you produce this chaos. He obviously attracts a lot of attention from his opponents with the way he plays and creates space for others. This is one of his great qualities.

The signing of Jesus was a major coup for Arsenal, with the club luring him away from Premier League champions Manchester City.

Jesus won four league titles during his time at the Etihad, but Arteta believes he is just as hungry for success now at Arsenal.

“Obviously when you sign a player that you know, who has been successful in the League and has the hunger and the right reasons to join us, it was a no-brainer for us to do it,” he said. “And we could immediately see the impact he had on the team.”