‘He’s an animal’ Gabriel Jesus singles out new Arsenal teammate for high praise

New Arsenal signing Gabriel Jesus has already been wowed by his teammates since joining the Gunners, and has singled out compatriot Gabriel Martinelli for special praise.

Jesus joined the Gunners earlier this summer from Manchester City, in a deal worth up to £50m, and has already impressed the Arsenal faithful by striking three times so far in preseason.

2JGBM77 08 July 2022, Nuremberg: Soccer: Test matches, 1. FC Nuremberg – FC Arsenal at Max Morlock Stadium. Gabriel Jesus from Arsenal. Photo: Daniel Karmann/dpa 

And, speaking to Podpah podcast, Jesus revealed that of all his teammates, it is Martinelli who has caught his attention so far, praising his work ethic and stamina in particular.

When his name was brought up in passing, the 25 year old interjected with “Woah! Martinelli – he’s an animal. An animal! He never gets tired!”.

It is not the first time that Martinelli has been singled out of the Gunners front line- in 2019, following Manchester City’s 3-0 win over a Freddie Ljungberg side, Gabriel Jesus’ former teammate Kevin de Bruyne revealed how he differed from the other forwards in the Arsenal ranks.

“We saw up front in the videos… the attackers they try to press up but when we pass their front four they really don’t help the Arsenal defence.

“So they always stay with four up front, except [Gabriel] Martinelli who comes [back] a little bit more.”

Jesus rediscovers spark amid hungry teammates

Meanwhile, Jesus has also revealed that he has rediscovered his love of playing football again, something that he felt he lost at Manchester City.

 “I’m a person that thinks a lot. I’ve been thinking about [leaving City] for one or two years”, he explained. “The best decision that I could have made is to be here at Arsenal.2

“I needed to play football with a smile on my face again. My mother watched our game [against Orlando City] and called me to say, “I can see you’re different, you’re playing happy!” I got emotional hearing that.”

And he had plenty more praise for the rest of the Arsenal squad too, adding:

“[My new team-mates] at the club are so hungry, they’re desperate to get this club back to winning a Premier League after 20 years. This kind of challenge excites me a lot to be here.”

Arsenal fans will be hoping that Jesus can prove to be the final piece in Mikel Arteta’s transfer jigsaw.

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