Gary Neville says Arsenal have a ‘brilliant’ player who is like Carlos Tevez

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Arsenal forward Gabriel Jesus has been compared to Carlos Tevez by Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville.

However, the Gunners man “hasn’t got that instinct in front of goal”, according to the Manchester United legend.

Jesus has been receiving criticism for his lack of clinical edge in front of goal of late. This was especially evident in midweek.

The Arsenal star spurned several great chances to bring the Gunners back into the game against West Ham, including a close-range header.

In recent months, there have been calls for Arsenal to sign a more clinical and prolific striker, and these increased after Thursday night’s loss.

Speaking ahead of that match, Neville stressed that he’s a big fan of Jesus, but at the same time, he made clear he has weaknesses to his game.

“I actually love Jesus,” Neville said on Sky Sports. “He’s a brilliant player and I would love to play with him.

“He’s got a bit of Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez in him, but he hasn’t got that instinct in front of goal. Sometimes he’s everywhere you don’t want him to be.

“When you look at these [Arsenal] three [forwards], not just in terms of goals, they don’t combine a lot together in the game. That is going to cost them at some point.

“There have been a lot of times this season where that player [hasn’t been] stepping across the front post to tap it in or get a nick on it, they haven’t got that sniffer.”

Arsenal have their work cut out trying to sign a clinical striker in January – TBR View

It’s telling that Neville made those comments ahead of the Arsenal game against West Ham, and Jesus’ subsequent display very much proved him right.

Jesus is a fantastic player, there’s no doubting that. What the £45million man does for the team cannot be understated. However, as Neville says, he just isn’t a clinical finisher.

At the same time, that’s probably the hardest type of player to buy in January. Everybody wants the prolific goal machines, but as such, that makes them expensive and/or hard to get.

Add the fact that very few clubs will want to lose their main sources of goals mid-season, and it shows that Arsenal could struggle to bring in a top striker in the January window.