Gabriel Jesus Blasted After Undergoing Surgery As Robert Sanchez Picks Chelsea Over Arsenal
Written By Onyeka Daniel
It’s less than two weeks to the start of the 2023/24 English Premier League season and clubs are already rounding up their pre-season trainings and getting ready for the new season, but for some clubs, they may have to do without some of their players when action resumes next weekend.
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It was earlier reported that Chelsea forward, Christopher Nkunku had suffered an injury, putting him in doubt for the Blues opening game of the season, even if there’s no confirmed report on the extent of his injury, but for another EPL side, Arsenal, it’s far more worse as Brazilian striker, Gabriel Jesus has undergone surgery, so close to the start of the EPL season.
Jesus missed three months of action last season with a knee injury. He suffered that issue during Brazil’s final World Cup group match in Qatar against Cameroon. The former Manchester City star worked hard to get back to full fitness and played a part in the final few months of the season.
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The Brazilian featured heavily on the pre-season tour to the USA last month. However, he was absent from the team sheet for the visit of Monaco. Arsenal confirmed at the time that he had a knee issue which was going to be assessed. Speaking in his post-match press conference, Mikel Arteta confirmed that Jesus had undergone an operation.
“He will be out for a few weeks aand will miss the Community Shield against City on Sunday as well as the season opener at home to Nottingham Forest. Arteta said: “Unfortunately he had a little procedure this morning. “He’s had some discomfort in his knee that caused him some issues so they had to go in and resolve it. It’s not something major but he’s going to be out for a few weeks.”
Arteta admitted it is a big blow to lose Jesus so close to the new season and confirmed the issue is related to the injury he suffered late last year. He added: “A big blow because we had him back to his best, especially with the way he played against Barcelona and he was in good condition. We’ve lost him but he’s been feeling some discomfort in the last few weeks and we had to look at it and we had to make a decision and the best one is to protect the player and get him back as soon as possible, so we decided to do it.
“It’s something related to the previous injury that he had and the surgery. He had some irritation in the knee and we had to get it resolved.” Reacting to the news, Richard Keys has bizarrely taken a dig at the Arsenal striker who he claims spent “all summer” partying which delayed knee surgery.
Keys, who is a former Sky Sports presenter, but now works with Qatari network beIN Sports, wrote: “Amazing. How has Jesus been allowed to party all summer & only now go for knee surgery which will rule him out of the first few weeks of the season? And it was an existing injury that they knew about at Arsenal.”
It’s certainly not the first time that Keys has voiced his negative thoughts on Arsenal, with some fans even going as far as to theorize that he has a vendetta against the Gunners. Whether it be criticising their players for ‘over-celebrating’ wins or raging about Arteta’s unsavoury touchline antics, which often land the Spaniard in hot water, Keys rarely misses an opportunity to bash Arsenal.
Eddie Nketiah was instead deployed and he was also the skipper, scoring the equalizing goal that sent the game into penalties. He was the main striker for Arsenal while Gabriel Jesus was injured last season and is also expected to lead the line on Sunday against Manchester City in the community shield game.
Arteta also has Leandro Trossard and summer signing Kai Havertz as options up top. Folarin Balogun remained absent on Wednesday following the injury he picked up in the USA.
Meanwhile…
It looks like Chelsea have beaten Arsenal to the signing of Brighton goalkeeper, Robert Sanchez according to recent reports from England. The report states that a £25m deal has been agreed, and attention will now turn to Chelsea’s long-running pursuit of £105m-rated Moises Caicedo.
The goalkeeper has also found an agreement on personal terms since last week, and is set to sign a long-term contract to keep him at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea are thought to see the 25-year-old as potential competition for current No 1 Kepa Arrizabalaga.
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The Blues have been in the hunt for a new shot-stopper since selling Senegal star Edouard Mendy to Al-Ahli earlier in the transfer window, leaving them with just Kepa as Slonina is said to be angling for a move in search of first team football elsewhere. Chelsea retained an interest in the player throughout the summer as Mauricio Pochettino’s side sought a new star between the sticks.
Sanchez had impressed for Brighton before a falling out with Roberto De Zerbi saw his minutes dry up on the south coast. The Spanish star, as a result, drew interest from a number of Premier League sides with a view to prising him away, with Manchester United monitoring the situation early in the transfer window.
Sanchez lost his place as Brighton No 1 to Jason Steele towards the end of last season and has since seen Dutchman Bart Verbruggen join this summer. And with relations not improving between him and manager De Zerbi, Sanchez has been training with Brighton’s under-18s rather than the first team. Though born in Spain and capped twice by them, Sanchez counts as homegrown as he has been brought up through Brighton’s academy since the age of 15, and was courted by England prior to his Spain call-up.
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