Gabriel Jesus says he is unfazed by Arsenal’s search for a new striker.
The Gunners are ready to make a big-money signing next summer as they target a prolific goalscorer.
But Jesus, who scored on Wednesday night as Arsenal beat Lens 6-0 to seal progress to the Champions League knockout stage, has defended his role in the team and his shortage of goals.
The Brazilian has scored just 16 times in 46 games since his £45million move from Manchester City last year.
Arsenal have made a new midfielder their transfer priority in January, though Brentford striker Ivan Toney is one player on their radar ahead of next summer. But Jesus is convinced he brings other qualities and is not concerned about potential new arrivals.
“This happens, you know. Maybe it can be agents talking about a lot of things,” he said. “I am not the most experienced, but I think I have seen a lot of things in football.
“Sometimes it is like this. It happened when I was at City, even with [Sergio] Aguero and me scoring. I was scoring a lot and people were linking everyone.
“So here, I don’t care about this. I know what my qualities are and I know what I can bring to the team. I can score and I can also help with other things, like opening spaces.”
Jesus is back fit again after a month out with a hamstring injury. Last week, he made his comeback for Brazil and, while away on international duty in South America, was quoted as saying scoring goals is “not my strong point”.
But Jesus has said the comment was taken out of context and insisted he has the ability to score regular goals.
“It’s hard to explain,” he said. “I said this, but not in that way. I have other qualities as well, but I can score.
“Sometimes people just go to the result and see who scored, they don’t see the game. I understand my game.
“But the only people who can see it are those who watch the game and understand.
“Those who don’t understand will say that, ‘Oh, he didn’t score today’. But maybe I run and open space for someone and then, let’s be honest, I don’t miss a lot of chances.
"I don’t care about this. I know what my qualities are and I know what I can bring to the team"
“Obviously, I want to score every game, if it’s possible a hat-trick! But that’s not the reality.
“If you say my name, people say other things and not just goals — so I am happy with this — but I want to score.”
Arsenal thrashed Lens to seal top spot in Group B with a game to spare and ensure they will be seeded for the last-16 draw, meaning they will avoid Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
Next month’s trip to PSV Eindhoven is now a dead rubber, with the Dutch side also through in second place, and Mikel Arteta can rest players ahead of the busy festive period.
While tougher tests lie ahead in the knockout stage of the competition, Arsenal’s cakewalk on Wednesday night will have made the rest of Europe sit up and take notice.
