Former Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand has backed Arsenal's Gabriel Jesus to be the Premier League's 'signing of the season'.
Jesus arrived at the Emirates Stadium after completing a £45million deal and reunited with former City coach Mikel Arteta in North London. The Brazilian enjoyed a stellar pre-season tour and warmed up for the Premier League season opener against Crystal Palace with a hat-trick in a 6-0 win against Sevilla.
Despite not scoring against Palace in the Premier League curtain-raiser, Jesus' impact was clear to see as the 25-year-old received praise from Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville during Sky Sports' coverage of the Gunners' 2-0 win at Selhurst Park last week. Jesus will be aiming to open his account for the season at home against Leicester this weekend, and Ferdinand believes the Brazilian is just what the north Londoners were missing.
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Speaking to William Hill, Ferdinand believes Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus will prove to be the Premier League’s signing of the season. The ex-United defender said: "I think he goes and gives Arsenal what they’ve been missing. He’s somebody that they can rely upon up front to score the goals.
"They’ve had [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang, who was indifferent at times. They've had [Alexandre] Lacazette, who didn't get to the level they were expecting."
Jesus was handed the No.9 shirt at the Emirates Stadium following his move from City and is now the starting striker after Lacazette's departure earlier this summer. "Jesus goes in there and the fact that he’s now the designated number nine and the man they’re relying on, with that responsibility, I think his confidence will give him another 10% minimum," Ferdinand continued.
"At City you weren’t seeing the best Jesus because he always thought: 'I’m always going to get pulled out of the team, they’re always going to put someone else in instead of me, they’ll play a false nine instead of me' – and that does something to your confidence."
The Brazilian striker decided against renewing his deal at the Etihad Stadium and joined the Gunners after City brought in Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez, which left Jesus facing even less chance of starting for Pep Guardiola's side. Mikel Arteta has lauded the Brazil international for how well he has settled in and the impact he has had on the squad already.
Speaking to Arsenal's official website, the Arsenal manager said: "Obviously there are his qualities, his anger to score, his willingness to be coached, to improve. He is used to winning and he knows that winning is the only way to do it. I think he will set different standards at the club."
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