For the vast majority of the core players, pre-season is largely a tuning up exercise. For example, players like Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice’s seasons are unlikely to be defined by what they do during pre-season friendlies- not least because in the case of Saka and Rice, they will have truncated pre-seasons anyway.
However, for some players, pre-season can really set the tone for what is to come. This often happens for young players who enjoy a breakthrough. When Gabriel Martinelli signed from Ituano in the summer of 2019, he was largely considered a signing for the U23s in the short term but quickly impressed on pre-season tour in the US.
Jack Wilshere enjoyed an excellent pre-season in 2010 and became a lock in the first eleven, while Cesc Fabregas did something similar in the summer of 2004. Both summers saw lots of first team players at international tournaments, which gave young talent the space to stake their claim during pre-season.
At the risk of overstating things, it is difficult not to feel a similar twinge in the muscle memory for Ethan Nwaneri this summer. Injuries often dictate how pre-seasons look too. Two summers ago, Takehiro Tomiyasu was injured as William Saliba returned from a loan spell. Ben White filled in at right-back and hasn’t moved from that position ever since.
Sometimes, a strong pre-season can reignite a player too. Which brings us onto Gabriel Jesus. After scoring against Manchester United in LA last week, Gabriel Jesus told Arsenal.com, ‘Last year I lost my pre-season, I could feel pain in my knee and I was trying to force it. I had the surgery and after that it is difficult to come back. This year it is different.’
"I was focused to come back well and have a good pre-season. Now I’m in different shape and can play football again.”
Jesus on his growing confidence and the benefits of a full pre-season
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) July 28, 2024
Pre season is probably the worst time to get injured since the knock-on effects often elongate the impact of the injury, even if they don’t exacerbate the literal recovery period. Picking up a knock in July or August essentially impacts the first few months of the season as you struggle back onto the same timeline as your teammates.
In Jesus’ case, the knee surgery last August did not clear up the problem he has been struggling with since the 2022 World Cup. Arsenal fans just haven’t seen the real Gabriel Jesus since then, in my view. In Mikel Arteta’s words, Gabriel Jesus ‘changed our whole world’ when he signed in the summer of 2022.
After a few seasons of the ill-fitting Lacazette and Aubameyang combo (with awkward sprinkles of Pepe and Willian added to a lopsided dish), having a centre-forward that could a) move in a manner befitting of an elite athlete and b) who gelled instantly with the wide attackers was like being served a juicy steak and fries after a few seasons of slop.
Buoyed by a poor experience at the 2018 World Cup with Brazil, Jesus pushed himself through the pain barrier to make the Selecao squad for the 2022 World Cup and has paid the price with his fitness in the ensuing time period. Havertz’s strong impression of a centre-forward at the end of last season meant that Jesus’ absence wasn’t felt last season as much as it was in 2022-23 and, in the process, many of us have forgotten about the quality of the player. We need reminding.
This summer, Jesus essentially wrote off the Copa America with Brazil early on in an attempt to finally get back to full fitness. There is a small suspicion that maybe, as Arsenal’s ceiling has risen closer to Manchester City’s, Jesus might end up in the same ‘high level forward rotational option’ role that he found at City and that caused him to leave for a more prominent platform.
I don’t think Arteta is done with Havertz as a midfielder nor can Arsenal play the same team for an entire season. With interest in Sesko quashed early in the summer, I also strongly doubt there is any sort of external striker market for Arteta. Gabriel Jesus has an opportunity to reassume his primacy and remind Arsenal fans why they so quickly fell in love with the player in 2022.
When he joined the club alongside Zinchenko, they were seen as youngish players but with a lot of top level experience. Jesus is now 27. He is not ‘at the young end of experienced’ on the spectrum any longer. He is simply ‘experienced’ and he is not on ‘high level squad player’ money. For Arsenal, if he becomes a good and heavily used alternative to Kai Havertz upfront or even well used in the wide positions, that would be good (even if it wouldn’t represent total VFM on his wages).
But the player himself will want to prove that he can be better than ‘good’, that he can be the spearhead of a title winning team. He achieved that with Palmeiras in Brazil at the age of 19 but he left Manchester City because he never quite managed that primacy there, even if he did win four league titles. Since bursting onto the scene as a teenager with Palmeiras, Jesus’ career has already had that ‘waiting to explode’ feeling.
Jesus is highly regarded, most Arsenal and Manchester City fans would say he’s a really good player. This season will show whether, for his own professional pride and for Arsenal’s desired title challenge, he can make the leap into the absolute elite. A strong showing from the Brazilian could give Arsenal the edge they need to leapfrog City into first place.
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