Arsenal
Gabriel Jesus: Committed to Arsenal and Focused on Ending the Title Wait
Gabriel Jesus insists he remains at Arsenal and is determined to help end the club’s league drought.
Gabriel Jesus has moved to end speculation about his future by making clear he intends to stay at Arsenal and help the club challenge for the Premier League.
Jesus missed the bulk of the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in January. He returned on Dec. 10 in the 3–0 Champions League win over Club Bruges. During his absence Arsenal added attacking options in Viktor Gyökeres and Noni Madueke, prompting suggestions the 28-year-old might seek a move to reignite his career. In an extensive interview with The Players’ Tribune, part of the Minute Media network, Jesus rejected that idea and framed his return around a simple objective: winning titles.
“I feel that I have unfinished business at Arsenal, I don’t want to leave,” Jesus said.
He described his arrival at Arsenal as a bid to achieve more than goalscoring and pointed to the variety of roles he played earlier in his career. “When I came here to join Mikel [Arteta], my purpose was not only to score goals. My purpose was to win titles. When I came to the Premier League , I think most people’s reaction was, ‘Oh? Who is this kid?’ They looked at me as a pure goalscorer. But that’s not how I see myself. My strongest trait is that I will do whatever it takes to help the team win titles.
“At City , I played many roles. I shared the goal scoring load with [Sergio] Agüero sometimes. Other times, I played out on the wing. And other times, I used my physicality to link up play. I think that’s why Mikel brought me here, years ago. I don’t always need to be the No. 9 to help the team.
“I am here [at Arsenal] to make history. When I got called to the main team at Palmeiras, when I was 18, they hadn’t won the Brazilian league in 22 years. We woke up the “sleeping giant” and won the title, and now they can’t stop winning. I go back there sometimes, and I walk the halls at the club, and all you see are trophies, trophies, trophies.”
“I think it can be the same at Arsenal ,” he continued. “We can wake up the sleeping giant. I have worked with Mikel since I came to this country, and I know what he demands from me. It’s the same as he demands from the chef. Everything, every day.
“With this manager and this squad, we can do it. I trust my football. I trust God’s plan. And I know that if I get a chance, I can help the team with the league.”
Jesus had been in strong form before the injury, highlighted by a hat-trick against Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup quarterfinal, but he collapsed to the ground in the match against Man Utd. “This has been the most surreal year of my life. Just when I felt like I was back to playing my best football, I felt a snap against United, and my world crumbled,” he reflected. “But I believe that God wouldn’t give me a challenge that I couldn’t come back stronger from. He gave me many blessings to get me through it: My wife, my children, my teammates, and the medical staff at Arsenal, who have been amazing.
“People have asked, ‘Why don’t you just leave? Why don’t you go to Saudi? Or back home to Brazil?’
Arteta has repeatedly stressed the need for depth and Arsenal now have an expanded forward group including Gyökeres, Madueke, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, Kai Havertz and Mikel Merino. Speaking to reporters, the manager said: “No, I don’t consider that and especially with the situation we have right now. I think Gabi has a lot to offer to the team and he is proving that straight away in the first minutes that he was available to play. He has put so much [in] to be in this position again and now the focus is to be with us.
“A player of his quality, a player who has given us so much and when he comes with the energy he did the other day, he is certainly a player who has to be pushing and aiming [to start], that’s for sure.”
Arsenal
Midwinter Market: Big-money valuations and loan manoeuvres dominate the rumour mill
Transfers: Leão to Arsenal; Bellingham priced; Pepi medical booked; loan interest grows. Many clubs.
The transfer chatter remains dominated by high fees and pragmatic loan options as clubs across Europe prepare for significant summer moves. Arsenal have been linked with AC Milan forward Rafael Leão, a target reported to command $92.3 million (£69.1 million, €80 million) as the Gunners weigh reinforcement options amid speculation over Gabriel Martinelli.
Manchester United’s interest in Joshua Zirkzee has cooled as the striker plots a return to Serie A. His likely Italian suitors, including Juventus, Milan and Napoli, are reportedly only interested in a loan deal.
Manchester City have pursued Barcelona center back Pau Cubarsí with what has been described as an “obsession.” City are understood to have proposed a swap involving Omar Marmoush as a potential makeweight in the negotiations.
Arsenal are also the centre of a different story, with Crystal Palace, Everton and West Ham United all exploring a loan move for Arsenal’s “frustrated” left back Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Chelsea are active on several fronts. They have submitted offers for Borussia Dortmund’s Serhou Guirassy, while also being linked to Inter target Alessandro Bastoni. Inter rejected an initial Barcelona approach of up to $75 million (€65 million) and are reported to be asking closer to $92.3 million. Guirassy has been floated as a replacement option and could be available for $69.2 million (€60 million), with Chelsea and Inter among those said to have made offers.
Chelsea are also said to be close to signing Valentín Barco from Strasbourg, a move described as at an “advanced stage.” Meanwhile, Aston Villa are demanding a club-record fee in excess of $133.5 million (£100 million) for Morgan Rogers amid Chelsea interest.
On the wider market, Real Madrid are willing to listen to offers for Jude Bellingham, who has been valued at $173 million (£129.6 million, €150 million) and is attracting reported interest from Manchester United and Chelsea. Borussia Dortmund remain confident they can secure a permanent return for Jadon Sancho once his contract at Manchester United expires, with the club “confident” of a deal. Fulham have lined up a medical for Ricardo Pepi in a deal set to be worth $38 million (£28.5 million), and Newcastle United have scouted Lens goalkeeper Robin Risser, valued at $46.1 million (£34.6 million, €40 million).
Arsenal
Henry Urges Caution After Max Dowman’s Record Goal
Thierry Henry: protect Max Dowman after record goal. Rooney’s rise and Vaughan’s decline warning. NB
Thierry Henry has urged restraint from supporters after Max Dowman’s record goal, saying the teenager must be handled carefully if his potential is to be realised. Henry made his comments on Sky Sports Monday Night Football following the moment that prompted widespread reaction.
“I had goosebumps, I’ll be honest with you,” Henry said. “I don’t often get goosebumps watching a game, but I had goosebumps because I remember my first goal, my first moment. Even if you are not an Arsenal fan, at the particular moment I think everyone could relate and was happy for him and put the Arsenal thing on the side.”
The programme also revisited the context of the Premier League youngest goalscorer mark. Wayne Rooney was a previous holder of the Premier League’s youngest goalscorer crown, having scored a stunner against Arsenal in 2002. This week, the retired legend revealed that his weekly salary at the time was just $100 because he was too young to even sign a professional contract. Rooney later went on to become one of the greatest players in English soccer history, winning numerous trophies, captaining Manchester United, the England national and breaking decades-old goalscoring records for both.
Henry used those contrasting career trajectories to make a plea for perspective. He pointed to examples of players who fulfilled early promise and those whose careers were curtailed by circumstance. One such case was Vaughan, who came from the same Everton academy as others mentioned on the show; Vaughan made only 52 Premier League appearances in a career limited by injuries and finished in League Two in 2021. The best season of his career was a 24-goal campaign for Bury in League One in 2016–17.
If Dowman is to follow in Rooney’s footsteps and realise the superstar potential that has been apparent for years now, Henry challenged fans to be patient and protect the teenager at this early stage of his career.
Arsenal
Money Talks: CIES Ranks the World’s Most Valuable Squads
CIES values nine squads over $1bn; Real Madrid leads at $1.78bn while Tottenham exceed $1bn. Values.
The surge in transfer prices and squad valuations has reshaped how clubs are measured. The CIES Football Observatory produces those estimates by weighing a player’s quality, age, position and length of contract, and those individual valuations are then summed to give each squad a market value.
The scale is striking. There are nine clubs with squads valued above $1 billion. At the top is Real Madrid with a squad valuation of $1.78 billion and Kylian Mbappé listed as the most valuable player at $221 million. Barcelona follow with $1.60 billion, Lamine Yamal accounting for $403.9 million of that total. Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain each sit at $1.55 billion, with Bukayo Saka ($131.5 million) and Désiré Doué ($150.3 million) named as their most valuable players respectively.
Liverpool’s roster is valued at $1.20 billion, most valuable player Florian Wirtz ($149.8 million). Bayern Munich come in at $1.15 billion with Michael Olise ($162.6 million) as their top-rated asset. Tottenham’s squad is valued at $1.03 billion; Xavi Simons is listed as their most valuable player ($98.1 million), despite the club’s current relegation fight and Igor Tudor’s assessment that players “are lacking when we attack, we lack the quality to score the goal. We are lacking in the middle to run and we are lacking behind to stay there to suffer and not concede the goal.”
The list also includes Manchester United ($953 million, Benjamin Šeško $100.3 million) and Inter ($942 million, Lautaro Martínez $117 million). Earlier-positioned squads under $1 billion include Atlético Madrid ($903 million, Julián Álvarez $136.5 million), Juventus ($896 million, Kenan Yıldız $152.5 million) and Brighton ($894 million, Diego Gómez $86.4 million).
Several voices in the game have reflected on the market changes. Karl-Heinz Rumminegge said, “There are some players who do not come with a price tag.” Robert Lewandowski complained, “You are young, you score 10 goals in six months and some club will pay 60 or 70 million,” adding, “Before, you had to achieve something.” Vincent Kompany warned players about hype: “I always tell my players, ‘When there’s hype please don’t believe it, you’re not that good.’”
Whether the valuations mirror on-field quality or the inflation of a transfer market remains the central question CIES data brings into focus.
