18 November 2023 , 23:51
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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta will be left holding his breath next week when Gabriel Jesus takes to the pitch for Brazil against Argentina.
Jesus was controversially called up for international duty by Brazil boss Fernando Diniz, despite struggling with a hamstring injury. He has missed five games for Arsenal and has not featured since the 2-1 win over Sevilla in the Champions League on October 24.
Arteta wanted Jesus to stay put over the two-week international break to allow him to work with the club medical staff on his recovery. But the 26-year-old striker was keen to support his team-mates for the important games against Colombia and Argentina, so travelled anyway.
Jesus was excused from the travelling squad for the 2-1 defeat by Colombia on Friday, but Ge Globo reports he is set to start against Argentina on Wednesday. Arsenal technical director Edu and the club’s medical staff have been in regular touch with the Brazil FA and the club would much prefer he doesn’t play.
But with Neymar out injured and Vinicius Jr withdrawing from the squad after picking up a knock, Diniz wants Jesus to fill in. Arsenal star Gabriel Martinelli opened the scoring against Colombia and Gabriel Magalhaes also started, meaning three of Arteta’s players will likely be on show at the Maracana on Wednesday.
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Brazil desperately need a win against their closest rivals having won just two of their five World Cup qualifiers so far. Diniz’s side sit fifth in qualifying and he defended his approach to Jesus earlier in the week.
"About Gabriel, my whole life's work is not a concern in this sense with Arsenal or the national team," he said. "My concern is Gabriel. We brought him here for some reasons and that it was important to him. He was one of the players who even playing a match for us below our level in Uruguay, he managed to make a positive impact on the game, very difficult game but he got there.
Mikel Arteta has been protective of Gabriel Jesus (Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)"Play well, sustain position and create difficulty sometimes even kind of individually against Uruguay, I trust the player and him being here I take satisfaction.
"I talked to Gabriel and he didn't come here without planning. He said he's feeling good, he's already doing certain things, and when I spoke to him we had two more weeks, 10 days at least till the first game [against Colombia] and 15 days 'til the second one [against Argentina]. He is in good condition, we are doing things with great care. As soon as he arrived we made a new MRI we [are] treating him very carefully."
Before he went away, Arteta said on Jesus: "I don’t know. I’m going to talk to the doctors and him because he didn’t do any training with us. He’s far from working with the team, but it’s an internal communication between the club and the national team. The first intention is always to seek the best for the player."