Gabriel Jesus has been told he ‘has to be there and make the difference’ (Picture: Getty)
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has fired a message to struggling forward Gabriel Jesus following reports that the Gunners want to sign Ivan Toney.
Brazil international Jesus has registered just one Premier League goal so far this season and faced criticism following the 2-2 draw against Tottenham.
Gunners legend Ian Wright admitted he was left ‘frustrated’ by Jesus’ wastefulness and felt that the 26-year-old ‘cost’ Arsenal victory in the north London derby.
Gary Neville, meanwhile, has urged Arsenal to sign a new striker when the transfer window reopens and the north Londoners have been linked to Brentford’s Toney.
Arteta, quizzed about the key chance Jesus missed against Spurs, which would have put them 2-0 up and surely on course for three points, said: ‘These are defining moments in big matches, you have to be there and make the difference.
‘We spoke about it after the PSV game. But this is football. It’s the hardest thing in football to put the ball in the net at the right time and every striker misses chances, you see it all across the league.
‘He has a big impact in many areas of the pitch. On the weekend, he was really helpful in many moments, especially with his high press.
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‘In the final moment we have to be more ruthless there. We all know that and we need to help the players.’
Quizzed about how important it is to have a No.9 in his squad and if that type of player is rare to find, Arteta added: ‘It’s coming back, no? Look at Harry Kane, Erling Haaland, Ivan Toney. You have examples of players who score a lot of goals.
‘We haven’t scored a lot of goals as yet. We have scored more goals than in any other season for Arsenal. There are various ways to score goals and we are scoring but we should have scored many more from what we created.’
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