Gabriel Jesus has claimed the absence of William Saliba had a major effect on Arsenal's season as they ended up losing out to Manchester City in the Premier League title race.
The Gunners finished second, five points behind eventual champions City. But, at one point, the title looked like Arsenal's to lose. Following their 4-1 victory over Leeds on April 1, Mikel Arteta's side were eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
Although City had one game in hand, Arsenal still seemed the team to beat and were on a roll at that point, having won six league matches in a row. However, the Gunners collapsed, picking up just 12 points from their remaining nine matches which didn't end up being enough to win their first title since 2004.
Jesus, who was excellent for Arsenal before the World Cup, has revealed why he thought the Gunners' form dropped towards the back end of the season. The Brazilian pinpointed Saliba's absence as a key factor as the Frenchman sat out of the final 11 league games due to injury.
Speaking on the Denilson Show, as translated by Twitter user Renato, Jesus said: "When he [Saliba] plays, we concede few goals, when he doesn't play, the number (goals conceded) increases.
"When I got injured, Eddie replaced me very well. Then we signed Leo (Trossard). We kept the pace. But when Saliba got injured, it was complicated. The other defenders are good, but we were playing in a certain way. Look at the stats, we concede a lot less with him."
Saliba suffered an injury in Arsenal's Europa League game against Sporting back in March, which would end up ruling him out for the rest of the season. Rob Holding partnered Gabriel at centre-back for every match in April, before Arteta decided to make a change after their form dipped.
Jakub Kiwior, a January arrival from Spezia, was drafted into the back four and he impressed, helping the Gunners to three wins from their last five matches. That included an impressive victory at Newcastle and a 3-1 success over Chelsea.
Despite that, there is no doubt Arsenal were weakened following the absence of Saliba. So, in the potential circumstance he gets injured again, Arteta has decided to beef up his defensive options this summer.
Jurrien Timber is set to arrive in a big-money deal from Ajax. The Dutchman, who was a target of Manchester United last year, can play anywhere across the back-line, but is more comfortable either at right-back or centre-back.
He is expected to become the Gunners' third signing of the summer, with Kai Havertz already joining in a £65million transfer from Chelsea, while Declan Rice is closing in on a record-breaking move.
