Arsenal receive Gabriel Jesus injury update as Brazil make surprise call-up decision
Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus has travelled to Brazil to report for international duty, according to the Evening Standard. Jesus has been sidelined with a hamstring injury for almost three weeks, sustaining the issue during a 2-1 victory over Sevilla in the UEFA Champions League — a match that saw him provide a goal and an assist.
Despite being out of action since then, Brazil national team coach Fernando Diniz decided to name the 26-year-old in his squad for his side's World Cup qualifiers against Colombia and Argentina, with the player now making the journey to South America. The Selecao's medical team will now assess Jesus' fitness status before deciding if he is ready to play.
Under FIFA rules, Brazil are allowed to call up the versatile forward and evaluate him themselves. Tensions appear to be brewing between the five-time World Cup winners and the Gunners as Diniz recently explained a prior injury to Gabriel Martinelli may have been a factor.
Speaking to Globo Esporte, he said: “In the last squad, we hadn’t called up Martinelli from Arsenal. He didn’t report to the CBF in a very complete way, so we didn’t imagine that Martinelli would be ready to play against Venezuela and Uruguay, and he was ready to play before our games.
“Because of this too, we’re going to bring Gabriel [Jesus] in to find out his real condition, because we still have 15 days to go until the games, so we believe he could be fit enough to play, because I like him a lot. We have 24 players on the list, and if anything happens to him we won’t need to change the squad.”
According to ESPN Brasil, this has left the north London club feeling discontent behind the scenes. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta then addressed the situation over the weekend after
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