Manchester United star Lisandro Martinez has labelled Arsenal summer signing Gabriel Jesus as his toughest opponent so far. The Brazilian striker has been absent for over two months as he continues his rehabilitation from a knee injury sustained during the World Cup.
After completing a £45million switch from Manchester City to the Emirates Stadium in the summer transfer window, Jesus hit the ground running - scoring five goals and providing a further seven assists in 20 appearances. The Brazil international's injury threatened to derail the Gunners' title challenge but Eddie Nketiah has proven he can contribute when given the chance by Mikel Arteta in the first team.
Martinez could have followed Jesus to north London but instead joined United to reunite with Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford. Arsenal were interested in signing the Argentine defender, but after missing out on his signature the Gunners instead signed Oleksandr Zinchenko from City after already poaching Jesus from the Etihad Stadium.
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In an interview with the Telegraph, Martinez cited Jesus as the toughest opponent he has faced since arriving in the Premier League. The two players went toe-to-toe earlier this season as United became the first team to beat Arsenal in the 2022/23 campaign despite a controversial VAR decision that saw Gabriel Martinelli's opener ruled out.
Martinez rebuffed Arsenal’s advances to reunite with Ten Hag at United in the summer. The pair won back-to-back Eredivisie titles together with Ajax and Martinez has revealed why he snubbed the Gunners to move to Old Trafford.
"I know him [Ten Hag] well, his mentality, we are almost the same in the way," he said. "For sure we want to win everything."
Arteta offered a fresh update on Jesus' recovery ahead of this afternoon's clash against Leicester. The Arsenal boss said: "Doing really well he’s been doing quite a lot of work on the ball already and his rehab is going well.
"Unfortunately no [with regard to a timeframe]. Ask the doctor maybe he'll give you one.
"The knee’s not reacting so it’s really positive. We want him back as quick as possible, but also respecting the timescale that the doctors and the specialists are giving us."
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