Mikel Arteta says Gabriel Jesus knows he is in “the right place” to force his way into Brazil’s World Cup squad and believes Arsenal will see the benefit of his determination on the pitch between now and the tournament.
Jesus was left out of the Brazil squad for this month’s international break as manager Tite opted to look at other players.
While the forward is still widely expected to make the Selecao’s 26-man squad for Qatar when it is named in November, rivals appear to have stolen a march after impressive victories over Tunisia and Ghana.
Most prominent among them is Richarlison, the Tottenham forward who scored three goals across the two matches, and the pair will meet in tomorrow’s north London derby at the Emirates.
“[Jesus] is incredibly humble,” Arteta said. “He accepted the decision and the way he trained was just: ‘ok, I need to improve, I need to do more. I really want to be there, it is a big aspiration for me and an incredible opportunity and I am in the right place to do that’. I think we will see that on the pitch again.”
Jesus’ energy and goal threat has transformed Arsenal’s forward line this season, with the summer signing from Manchester City a major part of the upturn in form that has the Gunners top of the Premier League after seven games.
A byproduct of the 25-year-old’s intensity, however, is that he has already picked up four yellow cards and a booking in tomorrow’s derby would see him suspended for the following weekend’s game against Liverpool.
“It’s a thin balance,” Arteta added. “It’s in his nature, he gets a lot of contact and puts his foot and his body on the line in every situation.
“He’s a been a bit unlucky with the number of yellow cards that he had. Some of them we could not prevent because they were a little bit disciplinary, but yeah we want to avoid that for sure.”
