Kevin Campbell says he’d rather have Granit Xhaka as Arsenal captain than Gabriel Jesus

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Kevin Campbell has urged Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta to keep Gabriel Jesus away from the captain’s armband at the Emirates.

The Athletic revealed earlier this week that Granit Xhaka and Jesus have been named as part of the leadership group. They will take over the responsibility of being the skipper whenever club captain Martin Odegaard is unavailable.

Kevin Campbell says he’d rather have Granit Xhaka as Arsenal captain than Gabriel Jesus

Campbell heard the news that both Xhaka and Jesus are now essentially vice-captains at Arsenal, and he has come out and claimed that he doesn’t want the Brazilian to be anywhere the skipper’s armband.

The Englishman believes Jesus should not be burdened with the role of a captain as it’s extremely important for Arsenal that he focuses on his performances on the pitch.

Campbell, who has been very critical of Xhaka in the past, told The Highbury Squad, as quoted by HITC: “I would rather, and this is coming from me, I would rather Xhaka take the armband than Jesus because I don’t want that added pressure to Jesus.

“I want him to be free to play his game and score his goals. I don’t want the captain’s armband to go onto Gabriel Jesus if Odegaard goes off, I don’t want that yet.”

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Campbell’s right, Jesus’ sole focus should be on creating and scoring goals at the moment.

The 25-year-old, branded as ‘phenomenal’ by Rio Ferdinand following his display against Leicester, has been excellent for Arsenal since his move from Manchester City this summer. He was sensational for the Gunners in pre-season, and he has started the new Premier League season in fine fashion as well.

Jesus scored two goals and picked up as many assists against the Foxes last Saturday. He looked unplayable at times, and giving him the added pressure of captaincy is just needless at this point.

Arsenal take on Bournemouth this weekend and Jesus is almost a guaranteed starter – not as a captain, but as the Gunners’ main man in attack.