Mikel Arteta admits he was ‘surprised’ by what Gabriel Jesus said after joining Barcelona
Gabriel Jesus scored for Barcelona on Wednesday night.
Coming off the bench against Feyenoord in the Champions League, he headed home a Lamine Yamal cross as Barca cruised to a 5-1 victory.
He looks happy at his new club, and why wouldn’t you be, but his time at Arsenal ended on a sour note.
Jesus claimed he was blindsided by the club before his £8.6million deadline day exit. “I was training with the group and then from nothing they put me to train away from the group. No-one told me nothing.”
It was clear Arsenal wanted to sell Jesus, but for a player who spent four years at the Emirates and was one of the most popular figures in the dressing room, this wasn’t the right way to go about it.
Mikel Arteta responds to Gabriel Jesus’ comments after joining Barcelona
Mikel Arteta was asked whether he was surprised by Gabriel Jesus‘ comments in his press conference ahead of Saturday’s game against Sunderland.
“Very surprised, to be fair, especially because with Gabriel I had an individual talk in the dressing room. I don’t know what words were said, it’s fine. And the words that we used for each other, it was all about gratitude.
“So, I don’t know, it’s okay. Sometimes I understand when you have to deliver bad news or news that people don’t expect, those things are reactive.
“What is important is normally what happens three months later, six months later, when Trossard comes in, he’s in the dressing room with all of us, the atmosphere and the relation you have.
“And thank God so far, with all the players that they left, at some point their relationship has been really good. I hope that’s the same case.”
It’s a shame to see it go down like this. Jesus clearly felt disrespected by being separated from his teammates amid an uncertain future, and rightly so.
But we don’t know if this was necessarily an Arteta decision, exactly. He could’ve been pushed by higher-ups in order to attempt to force the player out. Again, we don’t know the details of the whole situation.
As Arteta says, hopefully, when the dust settles, that Jesus can maintain a warm relationship with the club, just as other players who have been sold have. Time has a way of changing perspectives.
