Thierry Henry hopes he's wrong about Gabriel Jesus after blunt Arsenal forecast
Thierry Henry has admitted he hopes Gabriel Jesus can go on to score more than 20 goals this season - despite previously doubting that the Arsenal striker would ever be prolific in front of goal.
Jesus has been the Gunners' first-choice striker since joining the club from Manchester City last summer but managed just 11 goals in all competitions during his maiden year at the Emirates. The Brazil international won four Premier League titles at the Etihad but was never really considered City's primary No.9 at any stage of his City tenure.
And while Henry is a big fan of Jesus, the Arsenal legend stressed last year it was highly unlikely that the 26-year-old would be the 25-30 goal a season striker the club needed to win titles.
Speaking on CBS Sports in October 2022, Henry said: “Jesus is a guy who can put more pressure; is he going to be a guy that’s going to score 25-30 goals? No. But what he does is contagious. Then you have the likes of Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka, who can do wonders.”
Despite suffering with injuries, Jesus has made a decent start to the 2023/24 campaign and already has five goals to his name, four of which have come in the Champions League. He was on target in Arsenal's thumping 6-0 win over RC Lens on Wednesday night.
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And after waxing lyrical about Jesus' goal against the Ligue 1 outfit, Henry outlined that he was hopeful the striker would prove him wrong by going on to plunder in excess of 20 goals this year for Mikel Arteta's side.
Join the debate! How many goals do you think Jesus is capable of scoring this year? Let us know here.
Thierry Henry has previously claimed Gabriel Jesus is unlikely to be the 30-goal a season striker Arsenal need (CBS Sports)Speaking on CBS Sports while watching Jesus' goal back, Henry says: “I just love this [Jesus' feint before scoring]. He did it against Manchester United, I don’t know if you remember on the break. Everyone thought he was going to shoot there. Watch how he does it. Oops, chops and goes back. Gabriel Jesus is a very important player for us. Will he ever score 20-25? I hope so. But what he does in general, it’s just great for us.”
Despite Jesus' underwhelming returns in front of goal last season, Arteta stressed that he had "changed Arsenal's world" following last month's win over Sevilla.
The Spaniard said of Jesus: “He has been through a lot in the last few years and he’s still really young. He has enormous experiences – some of them not the nicest but very necessary to be the player that he is today. I’m really happy to have him in the team.
“He came here for a reason. I think he changed our world. He brought so much belief and energy to that team, he needs to step in in those moments. He’s done that. That’s when a player becomes accountable for the team.
“Big games are for big players. He needed to produce those moments to win in a stadium like this. He’s done it for us in a really big way.”
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