Mikel Arteta, the manager of Arsenal, has admitted that he did not expect summer signing Gabriel Jesus to have such an immediate impact at the club.
Jesus, a £45 million signing from Manchester City, had an incredible pre-season with Arsenal, scoring seven goals in five games and leading the Gunners to five consecutive victories and thumping wins over Chelsea and Sevilla.
Jesus will see his first competitive action in an Arsenal shirt on Friday, when the Gunners travel to Crystal Palace for the start of the Premier League season, and Arteta has nothing but praise for his new forward.
“When you bring in top players who are coming from top clubs where they have been extremely successful over the years, they are going to expect that expectation,” Arteta said. “The role Gabriel has here is going to be very different to the role he had at his previous club, that needs some adaptation and some time.
“He’s done it fantastically well, we are surprised how quickly he has done it, but we have to share that responsibility.
“He’s an enormous talent, a player with mentality that is so contagious, and he is going to give us a lot, but it is a team contribution at the end of the day.”
