‘Nonsense!’ Arteta dismisses Jesus departure reports | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta has strongly dismissed reports that Gabriel Jesus will leave Arsenal in January.

Brazilian media have reported that the 27-year-old striker could leave the club during the mid-season transfer window, but his manager put an end to such rumours when asked.

‘No, nonsense,’ the Spaniard replied.

Links away from Emirates come following a barren spell of goals for the Brazilian.

Jesus has scored just one goal in 18 appearances across all competitions this season, in the Carabao Cup, leaving him struggling for form.

In the Premier League, the former Manchester City forward has not contributed a goal or assist to the Gunners’ 29 goals and has found himself starting just two of his 12 league appearances.

A combination of injuries and lack of form has seen him drop down the pecking order.

Arteta conceded that Jesus is going through a difficult phase but insists he has his support and that of his teammates.

“Like all strikers, they go through phases and moments.

“It’s true that that gap has become quite big but there are a lot of things that happened there. Injuries and not starting games that much.

“His attitude has been really good. It always is. We’re going to support him as much as possible.”

With Jesus struggling to find the back of the net, Arsenal have found themselves over-reliant on set pieces to score.

Despite criticism and comparisons to Stoke City in recent weeks, Arteta says he is ‘not worried’.

“Watching the games back and seeing what we created in open play and what the opposition have created from open play I don’t know if we can do much more than that. Especially when we watch Fulham in previous games and how they’ve played.

“Also, the set pieces are a consequence of what we do in open play and what we do defensively. It’s a phase that is part of that.

“I know you guys see it as (picks up two separate water bottles) this is set pieces and this is open play, but I see it as (picks up a bottle of Gatorade and begins to swirl it) this is open play and set pieces – they are all together with the restarts.

“But I respect that a lot. I don’t agree, but I respect it.”

Jesus is involved in the squad to face Monaco and will look to be among the goals against the Ligue 1 side who sit level on points in the Champions League group.