Gabriel Martinelli has hailed Arsenal teammate Gabriel Jesus as ‘among the finest strikers on the earth’ ahead of his long-awaited injury return.
Jesus has been out for nearly a 12 months since suffering a serious ACL injury in Arsenal’s FA Cup defeat to Manchester United back in January.
However the 28-year-old is closing in on a return and has been added to Arsenal’s Champions League squad ahead of Wednesday’s clash with Club Brugge.
Jesus was a key member of Mikel Arteta’s squad during his first two years on the Emirates Stadium following a £45m move from Manchester City in 2022.
The Brazil international won 4 Premier League titles during his time at Man City and twice registered not less than 20 goals in a single season.
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Jesus has not reached those numbers for Arsenal but Martinelli still views his compatriot as ‘among the finest strikers on the earth’.
Asked about Jesus’ imminent return to first-team motion, Martinelli said: ‘It’s really good, I really like him!
‘I all the time say that he’s among the finest strikers on the earth for me. I’m really glad to have him back.
‘It’s great to have him back, not only on the pitch but off it too since you spend less time with the team when you’re injured.
‘It’s really good to have him back because he’s great to play with, he likes to link up and rotate. I hope he gets some minutes in the following game and may show his talent.
‘He’s so experienced. He’s played so many game for City, for us, for Brazil. And he’s still so young, I say that to him.
‘It’s really good to have him back, I’m really glad and I hope he can show his talent.’
Jesus replaced Arsenal teenage sensation Max Dowman within the Champions League squad after the 15-year-old picked up an ankle injury while playing for the U21 team on the weekend.
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Arteta may even be without Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard for Arsenal’s trip to Club Brugge, while William Saliba and Gabriel remain sidelined.
‘Max picked up an injury and he had to return off, we did some scans and he’s going to be out for a number of weeks,’ Arteta said at his pre-match press conference.
‘Declan is ailing. He was quite sick after the [Aston Villa] game so he hasn’t travelled.
‘Leo is out too, he picked up one other knock where he had the difficulty, I don’t expect he can be out for long but he’s out for tomorrow.’
Arsenal are top of the Champions League group phase ahead of their clash with Club Brugge, who’re twenty seventh within the 36-strong table.
But Arteta’s side did lost last outing, suffering only their second defeat of the season against Aston Villa and ex-Arsenal manager Unai Emery.
Belgian side Brugge won their Champions League opener against Monaco but have since lost to Atalanta, Bayern Munich and Sporting Lisbon. They shared an entertaining 3-3 draw with Barcelona of their other game.
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