Gabriel Jesus: ‘My wish is to stay at Arsenal’
Gabriel Jesus has made his position clear. As speculation swirls around Arsenal’s attacking options and long-term planning, the Brazilian forward insists he wants his future to remain in north London – even if the club have yet to open talks over a new contract.
Speaking ahead of Arsenal’s Champions League trip to face Inter Milan at San Siro, Jesus was asked directly whether he would like to stay beyond the end of his current deal, which runs to 2027. His answer was unequivocal: he wants to stay, he wants to extend, and he wants to finally deliver the trophies he envisaged when he left Manchester City for Arsenal.
“I think my first target is to be healthy,” Jesus said, reflecting on a stop-start spell at the club. “This is my fourth season at Arsenal and unfortunately I played maybe one-and-a-half, two. Then the rest, with injuries.”
Those injuries have shaped his Arsenal story so far. After arriving as a marquee signing from City, Jesus initially transformed Mikel Arteta’s attack with his movement, pressing and link-up play. But a serious knee problem suffered on international duty with Brazil derailed his momentum and left him sidelined for 11 months. He only returned to action in December, and even now he is still rebuilding rhythm and sharpness.
“That happens,” he continued. “Never happened with me before but it happened here, I don’t know why. I don’t ask myself anymore. I just try to be fit and then my first target is to be healthy from now until the end of the season.”
Behind the calm words lies a clear sense of frustration. Jesus was signed to be a central pillar of Arsenal’s project, yet long spells in the treatment room have forced Arteta to constantly reconfigure his forward line. In his absence, Kai Havertz has grown into a central role, while the club moved decisively in the transfer market to add further competition.
Last summer, Arsenal paid a substantial fee to sign Viktor Gyökeres from Sporting Lisbon, a striker who had been one of Europe’s most prolific scorers. The Sweden international arrived with a reputation for relentless running, physical presence and a ruthless edge in front of goal. His adaptation to English football has been more gradual than explosive, with eight goals in 26 appearances so far, but inside the club there remains strong belief in his long-term impact.
Jesus, far from seeing Gyökeres as a threat, publicly backed his new teammate to come good.
“He’s a top striker,” Jesus said. “He scored a lot of goals in his previous club. And then I’m sure that he’s going to find a way to do the same for us because this is good for us. He’s a striker who can score goals every time, at every minute. Then also Kai is an amazing player, amazing striker.”
That competition is now the reality Jesus faces. Arsenal’s attack is deeper and more varied than when he first arrived, and there are no guarantees of a starting place. Yet he insists that is exactly how it should be at a club with Arsenal’s ambitions.
“I just find myself that I’m so happy that I come back,” he said. “I had the toughest injury in my life, 11 months. And then just to come back the way I come back, I’m so glad.
“In a club like Arsenal, big like this, there is no guaranteeing a spot to anyone. So we’re all here to help Arsenal to try to win games and at the end of the season win trophies.”
For all his enthusiasm about the future, there is one notable gap: there have been no formal talks yet about extending his contract. When pressed on whether discussions had begun over a new deal, Jesus’ answer was blunt.
“No.”
Even so, he did not hide his desire to commit his long-term future to the club.
“Like I said before, my wish is to stay at Arsenal. And then I have a contract as well. Obviously if you ask me, like you did already, I want to extend my contract.
“I want to stay and I want to win trophies with Arsenal because I came here with a purpose. Then that’s it. But obviously the reality is different. Sometimes it can go another way. But my focus is to stay healthy and then win trophies with Arsenal.”
Those comments underline the delicate balance Arsenal must strike. On one hand, they have a forward whose technical quality, experience and mentality are highly valued by Arteta and his staff. On the other, they must weigh his injury record and the emergence of other options in a squad built to compete on multiple fronts.
Arteta, for his part, has consistently defended Jesus’ importance to the team, highlighting his work off the ball, his ability to knit attacks together and his influence in the dressing room. Both player and manager were quick to shut down rumours of a January exit, insisting there was no prospect of Jesus leaving mid-season.
While Jesus’ future remains a medium-term question, Arsenal’s immediate focus is on a demanding run of fixtures. The trip to San Siro marks their fourth consecutive away game in a fourth different competition, an unprecedented sequence for an English top-flight side. Riccardo Calafiori, Piero Hincapié and Max Dowman have all stayed in London to continue their injury rehabilitation, further stretching Arteta’s resources.
Yet the manager has been keen to keep his players’ attention fixed on the next 90 minutes rather than the broader narrative around the club.
“We have to go game by game,” Arteta said. “We can try to look ahead but what is coming and what is relevant is the next match. Sometimes we’ve been thinking a lot about the future, the next week or two or three weeks’ time and something happens that you have to adapt to the circumstances.
“Go game by game, enjoy the journey that we are in because it’s great and go for it every single game and let’s see what the next one brings.”
In Europe, Arsenal have put themselves in a strong position. They sit top of their Champions League group, and the stakes are clear. A top-two finish would secure home advantage in the knockout rounds, while finishing in the top eight would allow them to bypass a two-legged play-off to reach the last 16.
“That’s massive, we know that,” Arteta said. “If we win tomorrow we know that’s going to be the case so let’s make it happen.”
For Jesus, the Champions League stage offers both a platform and a test. He wants to prove he can still be the decisive forward Arsenal thought they were signing, to show that the injuries that have blighted his time in London are a chapter rather than the story. His words about the future are clear, but it is what he does in the coming months – in Milan and beyond – that will shape how the club respond.
For now, his message is simple: he wants to stay, he wants to extend, and he wants to win. The rest will depend on whether his body, and Arsenal’s long-term planning, allow that wish to become reality.
