Granit Xhaka has backed his Arsenal team-mate Eddie Nketiah to fill the shoes of Gabriel Jesus following the latter's knee injury and subsequent surgery. The Gunners forward underwent surgery on his knee and is expected to be out until around February at the earliest.
After only receiving World Cup cameos, Jesus started Brazil's final group stage fixture against Cameroon but came off mid-way through the second with an injury. Brazil manager Tite then confirmed that he was set to miss the remainder of the tournament.
football.london understood at the time it was only set to be World Cup fixtures Jesus would miss but after seeing a knee specialist, further damage was discovered resulting in surgery being needed to fix the issue.
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Although Jesus has not scored for Arsenal since the North London Derby win against Tottenham on October 1, 2022, the former Man City striker is integral to how Mikel Arteta's side play. Jesus frequently drops deeper to pick up the ball which creates space for his team-mates, particularly Gabriel Martinelli to drift inside and make runs beyond the defence.
With Jesus now set to miss a large chunk of the season, Mikel Arteta and Edu must make an important decision as the January transfer window approaches. One option is they choose to recruit in the winter window bringing in several attacking targets such with Marcus Thuram, Mykhaylo Mudryk and Noah Okafor as just a few of the talents linked.
Alternatively, Arteta can use Nketiah more frequently in the hope the absence of Jesus is not missed, and Arsenal's experienced midfielder Xhaka believes Nketiah may be the key to their problem.
Speaking to Mirror Football, he said: "We have the option with Eddie, of course. He showed great games as well in the past and we need to support Gabi first.
"We need to support Eddie as well, because he will be a big, big part of the next two or three months. But I am looking forward to it because we have the quality to bring Eddie there and to help him."
Before Jesus joined the club at the start of the 2022/23 season, Nketiah was often the man deployed towards the latter stages of last season following the departure of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and the mixed form of Alexandre Lacazette.
Nketiah scored five goals in seven games as the Gunners beat both Chelsea and Manchester United in the final few games of the campaign. The 23-year-old will need to have a similar impact if the role of Jesus is passed onto him while the Brazilian recovers from injury.
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