Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says forward Gabriel Jesus is in "top condition" again ahead of the new season after the Brazilian scored in the 2-1 pre-season win over Manchester United.
The 27-year-old endured an injury-hit 2023/24 campaign, scoring only four goals after netting 11 in his first campaign with Arsenal in 2022/23, but is now "looking really sharp" according to his boss after making changes over the summer.
“He [Jesus] looks really good, he looks really sharp,” said Arteta following the win over Man Utd in Los Angeles. “He’s changed a lot of things over the summer and he’s come back in top condition again. When you have that baseline, other things can be built but without that foundation we don’t have a player and he needs to be in that condition to get the best out of him.
"He’s realised that and I’m really happy with what he’s shown today again. You can see by the way he looks, the way he’s moving and you can see in his eyes that there’s a spark there.”
After the match, Jesus spoke about his struggles last season and why he's ready to make an impact from the off this time around.
“My last pre-season was not good because I was feeling my knee, so I had to have surgery and missed all of the pre-season,” explained Jesus. “So, I was trying to force it during that pre-season, but at the end I couldn’t and had surgery.
“That was a little bit difficult after to come back, but this season is different. I could enjoy my holidays and then I trained a lot, and I was focused to come back well and do a good pre-season. Now I’m in different shape and can play football again.”
Arsenal are next in pre-season action when they face Liverpool on Thursday at 00:30 BST in Philadelphia.
