Gabriel Martinelli has hailed Arsenal teammate Gabriel Jesus as ‘one of the best strikers in the world’ ahead of his long-awaited injury return.
Jesus has been out for almost a year since suffering a serious ACL injury in Arsenal’s FA Cup defeat to Manchester United back in January.
But the 28-year-old is closing in on a return and has been added to Arsenal’s Champions League squad ahead of Wednesday’s clash with Club Brugge.
Jesus was a key member of Mikel Arteta’s squad during his first two years at the Emirates Stadium following a £45m move from Manchester City in 2022.
The Brazil international won four Premier League titles during his time at Man City and twice registered at least 20 goals in a single season.
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Jesus has not reached those numbers for Arsenal but Martinelli still views his compatriot as ‘one of the best strikers in the world’.
Asked about Jesus’ imminent return to first-team action, Martinelli said: ‘It’s really good, I love him!
‘I always say that he is one of the best strikers in the world for me. I’m really happy to have him back.
‘It’s great to have him back, not just on the pitch but off it too because you spend less time with the team when you are injured.
‘It’s really good to have him back because he’s great to play with, he loves to link up and rotate. I hope he gets some minutes in the next game and can show his talent.
‘He’s so experienced. He’s played so many game for City, for us, for Brazil. And he’s still so young, I say that to him.
‘It’s really good to have him back, I’m really happy and I hope he can show his talent.’
Jesus replaced Arsenal teenage sensation Max Dowman in the Champions League squad after the 15-year-old picked up an ankle injury while playing for the U21 team at the weekend.
Arteta will also be without Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard for Arsenal’s trip to Club Brugge, while William Saliba and Gabriel remain sidelined.
‘Max picked up an injury and he had to come off, we did some scans and he’s going to be out for a few weeks,’ Arteta said at his pre-match press conference.
‘Declan is ill. He was quite sick after the [Aston Villa] game so he hasn’t travelled.
‘Leo is out too, he picked up another knock where he had the issue, I don’t expect he will be out for long but he’s out for tomorrow.’
Arsenal are top of the Champions League group phase ahead of their clash with Club Brugge, who are 27th in the 36-strong table.
But Arteta’s side did lost last time out, suffering only their second defeat of the season against Aston Villa and ex-Arsenal manager Unai Emery.
Belgian side Brugge won their Champions League opener against Monaco but have since lost to Atalanta, Bayern Munich and Sporting Lisbon. They shared an entertaining 3-3 draw with Barcelona in their other game.
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