Season-ending injury to Jesus sees Arsenal striker hunt take a huge twist

The Brazilian striker suffered a season-ending ACL tear, meaning Arsenal are without their man number nine.

The worst possible news came for Arsenal after reports emerged that star striker Gabriel Jesus was suspected to have torn his ACL against Manchester United in the FA Cup and would be out for the rest of the season.

The Brazilian striker went down in the first half of the tie and was replaced by Raheem Sterling; shortly after the game Jesus underwent scans which seem to have confirmed the outcome nobody wanted.

Until this point in the season, Jesus has played a total of 17 games for the Premier League side, albeit seeing 90 minutes just three times. He has scored 3 goals without managing an assist, and as such fans in the stands had been calling for a shift in policy all throughout the winter: sign a striker, please.

Will Arsenal sign a striker in January?

A quick scan through the highlights of the game against Manchester United and it’s not Jesus' injury that grabs the attention but instead the plethora of silver-plated misses from his replacement up top, Kai Havertz.

And before you start rolling up your sleeves and digging in, it must be remembered that Havertz is not a first choice elite-level striker and never has been; scoring 30 goals in a season is just not what he does. We can both agree Arsenal need a new marksman without having to, like some idiotic fans have done, send threatening messages to his family members.

As such, the hunt is on, and it comes now from a place of necessity rather than desire, which is never good. Enter the shop with your legs crossed over each other looking for toilet paper and the person behind the counter charges $25 for a single roll - you’ll pay it happily pay up.

Two names immediately stand out: Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyökeres. Both forwards have been on goalscoring crusades over the past months, with Newcastle and Sporting CP respectively enjoying their talents inside the box. Arsenal have been said to be looking keenly at both options, and it’s no surprise - who wouldn’t want a 30-goal-a-season forward in their ranks, even without Gabriel Jesus out?

And that’s kind of the point. Save for a radical and unexpected baggy pair of - until now tight-fitting - pockets on the legs of the ownership, the summer will be where the battle for Europe’s top talents is won or lost. Until then, it falls to Arteta to stop complaining about the shape of the footballs and get his team in a position where they can put themselves on a level playing field with the other big hitters on the continent, all drooling over the two rising stars of the European game.

Get your game on! Whether you’re into NFL touchdowns, NBA buzzer-beaters, world-class soccer goals, or MLB home runs, our app has it all.