Arsenal are on the verge of completing the signing of Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City. The Brazilian was the Gunners number one target from the start of the window, highlighting the success Edu has had early on so far this summer.
Jesus will become Mikel Arteta’s first-ever striker signing since taking over as the Arsenal boss from Unai Emery in December 2019. And the signing could be one of the best under the Spaniard when you consider the forward’s impressive statistics.
Arsenal desperately lacked a forward presence throughout the stages of last season, which is a major reason why the Gunners missed out on a place in the Champions League. However, Jesus’ scoring record highlights that he could be the key difference for the north London side to qualify for the European elite competition next season.
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According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Jesus will be undergoing a medical ahead of a move to Arsenal on Tuesday. The transfer agreed between the Gunners, and Manchester City is believed to be around £45m.
This could be considered a bargain for Arsenal when you consider the Brazilian's impact when inserted in Arteta's squad. Jesus has scored more Premier League goals from exclusively inside the box than any other player in the competition's history after finding the net on 58 occasions.
Throughout last season the Gunners were screaming for a striker who had a presence in the box, with Alexandre Lacazette unable to find the net from open play on a consistent basis. Eddie Nketiah certainly offered more of an attacking presence when he was chosen ahead of Lacazette towards the end of the season but still did not have a dominant impact like Jesus is promised to bring to the team.
Jesus' goal-per-minute ratio ranks him in the top 10 among other Premier League forwards over recent seasons. Jesus ranks seventh, having averaged a goal every 160 minutes.
This ranks him ahead of players such as Heung-Min Son, who was awarded the Premier League golden boot for the 2021/2022 season. It also sees him fall just below Jamie Vardy and former Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Arteta and the Brazilian international have worked together before during the Spaniard's three-year tenure at the club as one of Guardiola's coaching staff. This adds another incentive to secure his signature and improve the forward line ahead of next season.
During Jesus' time with Arteta, the Brazilian played 6931 minutes, and he managed to score 55 goals. This meant that his goals per 90 minutes reached an average of 0.71. This record is better than when Arteta left City because, without the Spaniard, Jesus has played 6850 minutes and scored 39 goals which means he reached an average of 0.51 goals per game.
Jesus had a 39% goal improvement when Arteta was coaching him, and it is certainly a relationship the pair could rekindle when Brazilian leads the forward line for Arsenal next season.
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