Arsenal are in the market for a centre-forward this summer and they’ve made a £50million bid for Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus – but how does his stats compare to Arsenal’s current forward options?
Jesus moved to Manchester in January 2017 and has been part of City’s golden era under Pep Guardiola, scoring 95 goals in 234 appearances as they’ve swept all before them in England.
But the Brazil international has never quite developed into the first-choice number nine that City believed they were signing. Sergio Aguero continued to bang them in until the end of the 2020-21 season and they often played without a striker in 2021-22.
Speculation has grown over Jesus’ future at City following Erling Haaland’s arrival, but the striker is still highly rated at the Etihad.
“In this world of football, if there’s one person who deserves the best of his life, for him, for his family and friends, it’s Gabriel,” Guardiola said after Jesus scored four goals against Watford in April.
“All of us – all the club, the locker room, the back-room staff, players, mates… when he can live one of these situations, we’re happy for him. He’s so generous and it doesn’t matter when we know the position he’s going to play, how he always fights for his mates, he’s fantastic.”
Mikel Arteta’s side are crying out for a striker but is Jesus the solution to their long-standing problem? We’ve had a look at his 2021-22 Premier League stats and compared them to the same figures of Arsenal’s current forwards.
Note: we’ve not included Alexandre Lacazette, who recently left the club on a free transfer.
Goals
Bukayo Saka – 11
Emile Smith Rowe – 10
Gabriel Jesus – 8
Gabriel Martinelli – 6
Eddie Nketiah – 5
Nicolas Pepe – 1
Assists
Gabriel Jesus – 8
Bukayo Saka – 7
Gabriel Martinelli – 6
Emile Smith Rowe – 2
Nicolas Pepe – 2
Eddie Nketiah – 1
Minutes per goal
Eddie Nketiah – 165.0
Emile Smith Rowe – 192.2
Gabriel Jesus – 235.0
Bukayo Saka – 272.3
Gabriel Martinelli – 311.0
Nicolas Pepe – 682
Minutes per goal or assist
Gabriel Jesus – 117.5
Eddie Nketiah – 137.5
Gabriel Martinelli – 155.5
Emile Smith Rowe – 160.1
Bukayo Saka – 166.4
Nicolas Pepe – 227.3
Chances created per 90 minutes
Bukayo Saka – 2.0
Gabriel Jesus – 1.8
Gabriel Martinelli – 1.6
Nicolas Pepe – 1.6
Emile Smith Rowe – 1.4
Eddie Nketiah – 1.4
Successful dribbles per 90 mins (success rate)
Nicolas Pepe – 2.5 (43.1%)
Gabriel Jesus – 2.2 (64.7%)
Gabriel Martinelli – 2.2 (57.8%)
Emile Smith Rowe – 1.5 (60%)
Eddie Nketiah – 1.5 (45.4%)
Bukayo Saka – 1.3 (41.9%)
Passes per 90 mins (passing accuracy)
Nicolas Pepe – 42.1 (83.7%)
Emile Smith Rowe – 35.9 (87.4%)
Gabriel Jesus – 35.4 (84.8%)
Bukayo Saka – 31.9 (79.5%)
Gabriel Martinelli – 25.4 (79.7%)
Eddie Nketiah – 24.4 (77.7%)
Shots per 90 minutes (inside penalty area)
Eddie Nketiah – 3.2 (2.4)
Gabriel Jesus – 3.1 (2.7)
Nicolas Pepe – 3.0 (2.3)
Bukayo Saka – 2.9 (2.2)
Gabriel Martinelli – 2.5 (2.1)
Emile Smith Rowe – 1.9 (1.4)