Brazil boss questions Arsenal decision as Gabriel Jesus row threatens to erupt

07 November 2023 , 12:15

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Gabriel Jesus picked up a hamstring injury vs Sevilla (Image: Getty Images)

Arsenal's club-versus-country row with Brazil over injured striker Gabriel Jesus is threatening to boil over.

The 26-year-old has not featured for the Gunners since sustaining a hamstring problem during the 2-1 Champions League triumph against Sevilla. Mikel Arteta and Arsenal's medical staff have been reluctant to put a timeframe on his return due to his extended period of absence last season, when he was forced to undergo knee surgery following the World Cup in Qatar.

Jesus has already been ruled out of Wednesday night's clash with Sevilla and he remains a doubt to face Burnley this weekend. Despite that, Brazil boss Fernando Diniz has included the former Manchester City frontman in his squad for upcoming international's against Colombia and Argentina.

And taking aim at the Gunners, Diniz claims there was a lack of transparency from Arsenal in October over Gabriel Martinelli, who returned sooner than anticipated for his club, to net the winner from the bench against Manchester City.

The Selecao head coach said: “In the last squad, we hadn’t called up Martinelli from Arsenal. He didn’t report to the CBF in a very complete way, so we didn’t imagine that Martinelli would be ready to play against Venezuela and Uruguay and he was ready to play before our games.

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"Because of this too, we’re going to bring Gabriel in to find out his real condition, because we still have 15 days to go until the games, so we believe he could be fit enough to play, because I like him a lot. We have 24 players on the list, and if anything happens to him we won’t need to change the squad.”

Diniz has covered his own back with the inclusion of Brighton's Joao Pedro who has been handed his first senior international call-up. Arsenal sporting director Edu is expected to hold talks with the CBF at the end of the week to update them on the availability of Jesus.

Gabriel Martinelli was left out of the previous Brazil squad under the assumption he would not be fit

Although the Gunners would prefer Jesus to remain in London for the upcoming international break, their argument will carry little weight if Jesus features against Burnley on Saturday at the Emirates. Brazil are currently third in the CONMEBOL 2026 World Cup qualification standings following last month's 2-0 defeat to Uruguay and shock 1-1 home draw with Venezuela.

The Selecao are currently lacking firepower in attack after recently losing Neymar to a serious knee injury. Fellow Arsenal duo Martinelli and Gabriel Magalhaes have also been included in the squad which also features 17-year-old Real Madrid-bound attacker Endrick.

Ahead of the last international break, Arteta declared that Bukayo Saka would not be fit to report for England duty, however, the winger did make the trip to St George's Park - only to be sent home by Three Lions medical staff.

Ryan Taylor