Mikel Arteta impressed with 26-year-old Arsenal player today, was his ‘best’ display for months

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Mikel Arteta has heaped praise on Gabriel Jesus after Arsenal beat Barcelona 5-3 in a pre-season friendly today.

Jesus started from the off as Arsenal battled to come from behind twice in the first-half, heading into the break at 2-2.

A quickfire brace from Leandro Trossard at the beginning of the second-half gave Arsenal some breathing space after Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz had levelled up the scoring during the opening period.

Fabio Vieira rounded off an impressive win for the Gunners after Ferran Torres had grabbed a late consolation goal for Barca.

Trossard stole the show with an exceptional display and two goals. But Mikel Arteta was particularly impressed with Jesus’ performance against the La Liga giants. 

Arteta impressed by Jesus display

Speaking to the media after today’s friendly in California, Arteta was asked whether it will be enough for Arsenal to share the goals amongst the team as they bid to challenge Manchester City for the title.

The Arsenal boss admitted he was unsure but moved to praise Jesus’ display.

“I don’t know,” he said. “We need to score as many goals as possible and if we have someone who scores 25, 30, 40 goals great.

“Gabi today didn’t score but it’s the best Gabi I have seen for months. Transmitting that energy, that belief. He was creating a lot of chaos, a lot of good moments and making everyone better. 

“I’m really pleased with that and the contribution of Kai. He has that quality and that’s why he’s playing that position with Leo (Trossard).

“We have a lot of options up front and they are going to have to compete between them to give me a hard time.” as quoted by Football.London.

Jesus starred for Arsenal during the first-half of last season as he got off to a blistering start after his switch from Manchester City. 

But the 26-year-old picked up a serious knee injury at the World Cup with Brazil which hampered his progress in North London.

He still managed to net 11 times in 33 appearances in all competitions. But Arsenal will be hoping he finds the back of the net more frequently this season.

Of course, City were helped across the line last season by Erling Haaland’s staggering total of 36 Premier League goals. It’s unlikely that Jesus will be able to put up numbers like Haaland, but he will be expected to chip in with more goals this season.