Gabriel Jesus is ready to start for Arsenal against Crystal Palace on Tuesday, according to Gunners boss Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus recently made his comeback from almost 11 months on the sidelines recovering from an ACL injury, but the forward has only made substitute appearances in the three weeks since his return to the squad.
That’s not unusual for a player returning after so long out, but Mikel Arteta has admitted ahead of Tuesday’s game against Crystal Palace that the striker could now be in line for a start.
“Yes, he is (ready to start),” Arteta told his press conference. “You can see now, not only in games, every day in training, how much he wants it. He’s going to deserve a chance soon.
“No, (his match sharpness is not surprising), because I was watching when he was seven months already on the pitch and the way he was moving and how much he wanted it.
“The biggest quality of Gabi [is] bringing people together, connecting with people and generating a lot of uncertainty in the opponent. When you see him today, the amount of spaces that he was involved in, that’s his biggest quality. So we need to exploit that.”
The Palace game could be the perfect one to reintroduce Jesus in. It would give Viktor Gyokeres a rest after his own recent injury setback, it would get him up to speed in a non-Premier League game, and it’s likely the opposition won’t be at full strength.
With Palace playing on Thursday and Saturday, their squad will be tired ahead of this Tuesday’s match.
There aren’t many opportunities to ease players back into action, and it would be unfair to suggest a quarter-final match is one of them. But it’s a lot closer to a free hit than any of Arsenal’s other upcoming festive fixtures.