Gabriel Jesus has offered a blunt assessment of Arsenal’s chances this season, telling Rio Ferdinand he is fully behind the club’s pursuit of silverware. Asked by Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand about how he felt regarding Arsenal’s title-winning chances, Jesus replied: “Very confident, very confident.

“We are in a good place and we have an amazing squad. Not just the players who play most of the games but the whole squad. I believe 100% that this season we are doing something.”

Those words arrive as Arsenal sit top of the Premier League by nine points, with rivals Man City holding a game in hand. Mikel Arteta’s side have also progressed to the Champions League quarterfinals and are set to reach the FA Cup semifinal should they beat Southampton on Saturday. The recent Wembley defeat to Man City was a reminder of the margin for error and of the club’s hunger; Arsenal have not won a major trophy since the FA Cup in 2020.

Jesus singled out Declan Rice as a driving force behind Arsenal’s rise. “He’s the type of player who can do everything. He can defend, he can create, he can shoot … he’s an amazing player,” enthused the Brazilian. He drew comparisons and highlighted Rice’s distinctive role in the team. “He’s different from Rodri because Declan is playing as a No. 8 now. I can compare him a little bit with Fernandinho. Fernandinho defended better than him I think but Declan gets forward, we call him ‘The Horse’ because when he gets going you can’t stop him.

“He’s amazing, really amazing. Look at his character as well, he was born to be a leader. I really appreciate him as a person and as a player.”

Jesus also paid tribute to Bukayo Saka, arguing the winger’s talent places him in the same bracket as top Brazilian wide players such as Raphinha and Vinicius Junior, even if Saka’s season has not matched his highest standards.

Mikel Arteta added a notable personal honour to a mixed March for his club when he won the Premier League’s Manager of the Month award. The recognition took his career total to eight, a figure matched only by Martin O’Neill and Harry Redknapp and bettered by just five managers in the competition’s history.

At the summit sits Sir Alex Ferguson with 27 awards, followed by Arsène Wenger on 15, Pep Guardiola on 12, David Moyes on 11 and Jürgen Klopp on 10. The 13-time top-flight champion amassed the largest share of Manager of the Month gongs during his two decades in the league.

Pep Guardiola reacted to Ferguson’s haul with a simple question: “How many?” The Manchester City boss also acknowledged that the award “belongs” to Ferguson and downplayed the prize. “This is the easiest award,” he laughed. “Most points you do in a month is the Manager of the Month. So it’s simple.

“And the reason we won is not the manager. [It’s] the players, all the time.”

Arteta’s awards have been collected across nearly six years as a Premier League manager. He had not won this particular honour for more than two years and made no appearance on the list during the entire 2024–25 campaign. Despite leading the league for long periods of the current season, he had been overlooked until March.

This season’s monthly winners have included a varied roll call: Arne Slot (August), Oliver Glasner (September), Ruben Amorim (October), Enzo Maresca (November), Unai Emery (December), Michael Carrick (January), Pep Guardiola (February) and Mikel Arteta (March). Several of those short-term high points did not translate into long-term stability. Ruben Amorim, the former Manchester United boss who won in October, oversaw only three more league wins in his next 11 matches before being sacked. Enzo Maresca left Chelsea 19 days after his November award, after collecting 10 points from a possible 12 and issuing cryptic comments about his influence with the club’s hierarchy.

Arne Slot’s August triumph already feels distant as he has spent recent weeks defending his position as Liverpool manager for next season.

Arsenal have held direct contact over Bayer Leverkusen forward Christian Kofane, his agent says, with the club’s interest described as genuine as the summer transfer window approaches. The 19-year-old Cameroon international started both legs of Leverkusen’s Champions League round of 16 defeat to Arsenal, a tie that has brought him to wider attention.

Sky Sport Germany’s Florian Plettenburg identified Arsenal and Real Madrid among clubs “monitoring” Kofane. Agent Eric Depolo spoke to Daily Arsenal about the player’s situation and the prospect of a move to the Emirates Stadium.

Depolo is quoted as saying “Arsenal’s interest is genuine” and that Mikel Arteta “likes [Kofane] very much.” On negotiations he added: “There is contact between me and Arsenal . But their focus right now is to win the league—from there everything will start moving.”

The agent also listed several clubs likely to compete for Kofane’s signature, naming Chelsea, Newcastle, Everton and Brentford from the Premier League, alongside Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Depolo went further, saying “Arsenal are in pole position” to sign Kofane, citing factors such as speaking Spanish like Arteta and William Saliba’s Cameroonian heritage.

Estimates of Kofane’s value vary widely. The original Sky Sport Germany report put an upper valuation at $80.7 million (€70 million, £61.1 million) for a player viewed as long-term potential rather than a proven impact signings. Depolo has quoted a significantly higher figure, giving an agent valuation of $115.3 million.

The agent’s comments confirm active interest and contact but also make clear Arsenal’s immediate priority remains on the title race, with transfer movement dependent on how the season finishes.