Arsenal can't stop scoring - so where will Gabriel Jesus fit back into the Gunners' line-up?

Of course, there are plenty of Gunners that would advocate putting Jesus straight back into the side to face Porto in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash on Wednesday were he available.

The versatile striker is an immensely popular figure at the Emirates, as much for his personality as his play. With his wonderful work rate and infectious enthusiasm, he quickly became a firm fan favourite following his move from Manchester City in the summer of 2022.

Arteta had signed Jesus for a reason, of course. The pair had worked together at the Etihad Stadium and the Spaniard was sure that the Brazilian was the kind of modern, multi-functional No.9 his side had been lacking.

It certainly looked that way early on, with Jesus scoring five goals and contributing four assists in his first nine Premier League appearances as Arsenal made a blistering start to the 2022-23 campaign. He had had an instant and transformative effect on his team-mates - or, as Arteta put it, "Jesus changed our world".

But then came the worrisome goal droughts and injury issues which are threatening to both characterise and derail his Arsenal career.

Jesus suffered a knee injury during Brazil's World Cup campaign in Qatar and ended up missing 12 Premier League games. He also felt "irritation" related to the original issue in August of last year, resulting in a minor operation that forced him to sit out the start of the current campaign.

A hamstring injury then kept him out of action for three games at the tail end of October and start of November, before he suffered his latest setback after a key contribution in the 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest on January 30, with Jesus scoring one goal and creating another.

The stop-start nature of Jesus' time at Arsenal has obviously hindered his strike-rate in north London. All but the very best goalscorers need games to get back up to speed.

The problem for Jesus, though, is that even when he has enjoyed an extended run in the Arsenal starting line-up, he has never looked like a lethal finisher. There have been some hot streaks, but his shot conversion rate in the Premier League this season is a pathetic 9.76 per cent - which is not just vastly inferior to the English top-flight's most highly-rated strikers, such as Erling Haaland (21%) and Ollie Watkins (17.1%), but also awfully average attackers like Richarlison (17.9%) and Nicolas Jackson (14.6%).

Jesus has argued in the past that he isn't guilty of many glaring misses, and he has a point there. As per Opta, he's only missed six 'big chances' this season, which would appear to support the claim that he doesn't get anywhere near as many clear sights of goal as the likes of Haaland and Darwin Nunez (21 big misses apiece) because so much of his game is taken up by creating space and openings for others - in much the same way his compatriot Roberto Firmino did for so many years at Liverpool.

"I know my qualities and I know what I can bring to the team," Jesus said amid reports of Arsenal lining up a January bid for Brentford's Ivan Toney. "I can score and I can also help with other things. But the only people who can see it are those who watch the game and understand."

However, it's worth noting that players such as Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min, who spend an awful lot of their time occupying wide positions, are both far more prolific than Jesus and far more efficient. Furthermore, for all the flak that Nunez cops, the unpredictable Uruguayan, who is often shifted out wide, has been directly involved in 16 Premier League goals this season - Jesus has contributed to just seven.

It's also telling that even while defending his poor end product, Jesus acknowledged himself that there is a need for him to get into the box more, revealing "that is the one thing I am working on", having previously confessed that scoring goals is not his "strong point".

The hope must be that the hard work will pay off between now and the end of the season, because there is no doubt that Lineker is right when he suggests that Jesus' position is presently at risk. The Toney transfer talk has hardly died down, which is not in the least bit surprising. Rather damningly, the England international has scored as many goals in five Premier League appearances this season as Jesus has in 17 (four).

This, then, is an especially crucial part of the season for the Brazilian because the debate has shifted from whether Arsenal need Jesus beyond the summer to whether they even need him right now, with Kai Havetz and Leandro Trossard having recently taken it in turns to impress as false nines.

As club legend David Seaman told Parimatch, "We were all talking previously about how Arsenal had to sign a striker [in January]... and yet they're scoring so many goals at the moment without one.

"It's great because there's been a lot of different goalscorers for Arsenal in recent games. You're looking at Bukayo Saka, you're looking at Martin Odegaard, Leandro Trossard, Kai Havertz... a lot of them are now chipping in with goals. So, it's looking really good for Arsenal at the moment - and that's without Gabriel Jesus being fit."

Of course, while Havertz did well up top in the vital victory over Liverpool, the notoriously inconsistent Germany international isn't the answer to Arsenal's issues in attack. He's far more effective attacking from deeper positions.

However, Trossard has undeniably emerged as a clear and present danger to Jesus' starting spot. Just like his rival, he is industrious, links well with those around him and is more than comfortable operating out wide. Crucially, he's also scored more Premier League goals (seven) than Jesus this season, despite playing more than 200 minutes fewer, and is almost twice as likely to find the back of the net with a shot.

Jesus' imminent return to full fitness, then, couldn't be more timely, particularly as it coincides with the resumption of Arsenal's European campaign. He has excelled in the Champions League this season, and though he will miss Wednesday's clash in Portugal, he will be back in time for the second leg in three weeks' time.

There's no hiding the fact that Jesus' status as Arsenal's first-choice no.9 is under threat, and not just beyond the summer, but between now and the end of the season. Jesus will keep fighting, of course. He'll keep smiling, too. But what he really needs to do now is stay fit. And start scoring. A lot. If he doesn't, the man who changed Arsenal's world is in danger of becoming their odd man out.