‘First day is sh*t’ – Gabriel Jesus relives injury nightmare & delivers reassuring message to Arsenal fans regarding his fitness

The Brazil international missed three months of last season after picking an unfortunate knock at the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar. He returned to action before the end of the campaign, but suffered a setback over the summer that forced him back under the knife.

Jesus believes his latest surgery has solved the issue, with the 26-year-old saying after making his comeback off the bench in Arsenal’s draw with Fulham and dramatic victory over Manchester United – in which he scored a stoppage-time goal: “I’m feeling good. It’s tough when you come back [to an] injury after a holiday. I started to feel my knee again, it was unlucky. After pre-season, you go again, but you feel in pain. I made the decision to do surgery as quickly as possible to come back stronger. It was tough, but now I’m getting back. It’s so important to find the rhythm again. So, I’m back, I feel good and I’m happy.

“At the end of last season I was completely fine, I felt nothing. Then I went on holiday and felt nothing. When I came back, in the first week, still nothing. Then, after that, I started to feel it. And for me it was [a case of], ‘If I’m not 100 per cent, I won’t be myself’. I was trying, I was keeping playing and training. I was feeling it a little bit, but for me it was nothing. But then we hit a point when I couldn’t run or move, so I decided to do a surgery — and that was it. First day is sh*t when you find out but the day after you realise you have to keep going, fighting and smile.”

Jesus hit 11 goals for Arsenal last season, following his transfer from Manchester City, but now faces a fight to win his starting berth back from Eddie Nketiah. The South American is embracing that challenge, saying: “First of all, competition is always good — for me and Eddie. In all positions when you have competition, it’s a good thing. From day one, I’m a big fan of Eddie because of the way he works, and the way he trains is amazing. It’s not easy to come from the academy at a massive club and fight to play in the first team. Congrats to him, he’s doing so well and he deserves to be called in the England team. It’s good competition. It’s good for the club because, for sure, he’s making me better and I’m making him better as well.”

Arsenal, who have taken 10 points from four games in 2023-24, will return to Premier League action after the international break when taking in a trip to Everton on September 17.