After a tough week that saw Arsenal crash out of the Champions League and fall to a 2-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa, the Gunners are back on track in the Premier League title race following spectacular wins over Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur in the space of seven days.
Mikel Arteta's side put five past the Blues last Tuesday before scoring three against Ange Postecoglou's outfit away from home, and Bukayo Saka was one of the stars of both games, especially the latter.
The Hale End superstar provided an assist against the West Londoners before bagging a goal and an assist against the Lilywhites on Sunday, showing once again why he's one of the club's most important players.
Unfortunately, while there were plenty of standout performers in the two games, one of the club's highest earners failed to start either, and as such, it might be time for him to move on.
Bukayo Saka's Arsenal career in numbers
Saka joined Arsenal's Hale End academy at just eight years old, and after years of hard work and impressive displays, former manager Unai Emery finally gave him his full first-team debut in a Europa League clash against Armenian side Qarabag in December 2018.
GK – Emiliano Martínez
RB – Carl Jenkinson
CB – Sokratis Papastathopoulos
CB – Laurent Koscielny
LB – Ainsley Maitland-Niles
CM – Joe Willock
CM – Mohamed Elneny
CAM – Mesut Ozil
LM – Bukayo Saka
RM – Eddie Nketiah
ST – Alexandre Lacazette
Since then, the fan favourite has gone on to make a staggering 224 appearances for the senior side despite still being 22 years old, in which he has scored 57 goals and provided 53 assists, giving him an impressive return of a goal involvement every 2.03 games.
This level of output is worthy of praise as it is, but it's made all the more remarkable given the fact that the 32-capped Englishman spent much of his early career bouncing between different positions, playing 21 games as a left-back, 35 games in left midfield, and even seven appearances as a central midfielder, for example.
Appearances
45
Goals
19
Assists
14
Goal Involvements per Match
0.73
The "incredible" winger, as talent scout Jacek Kulig described him, has further improved his output this season. As things stand, he has 19 goals and 14 assists to his name in just 45 appearances, meaning that he's currently averaging a goal involvement every 1.3 games.
For his undeniable importance to the team, the Ealing-born gem has seen his wage soar from around £10k-per-week during his breakout season to a whopping £195k-per-week today, and while that's an unimaginable amount of money for most people, one of his teammates is earning even more, although unlike the young Englishman, he's not justifying it.
What the future holds for Gabriel Jesus
The star in question is Brazilian ace Gabriel Jesus, who cost Arsenal around £45m in the summer of 2022 from Manchester City. At the time, Pep Guardiola and Co likely didn't view Arteta's side as a genuine title rival considering their failure to qualify for the Champions League the season prior.
The then-25-year-old was handed a massive salary of £265k-per-week, which was £175k more than he was making at the Etihad, £70k more than Saka is making, and before the arrival of Kai Havertz last summer, the highest wage at the club.
For that investment, he has returned a reasonably impressive 19 goals and 14 assists in 66 games for the Gunners, meaning he has averaged a goal involvement every other game. Therefore, when factoring in his transfer fee and wages to date – which come to £25.1m – he has cost the club around £1m-per-appearance, £3.6m-per-goal and £5m-per-assist.
Transfer Fee
£45m
Wages (Total)
£265k (£25.1m)
Total Cost
£70.1m
Appearances
66
Cost per Appearance
£1m
Goals
19
Cost per Goal
£3.6m
Assists
14
Cost per Assist
£5m
Goal Involvements
33
Cost per Goal Involvements
£2.1m
However, aside from the costs involved, there are two significant issues with the São Paulo-born gem. First is his finishing, or lack thereof. According to The Athletic, the 27-year-old has a conversion rate of just 7% this season, which is just not good enough for a title-chasing side and significantly worse than Havertz's conversion rate of 21%.
The second issue is his injury record. In his two seasons in North London, the 64-capped international has missed 33 games and 184 days of action due to recurring problems with his knee due to an injury he sustained at the 2022 World Cup and a hamstring problem to boot.
Ultimately, these injury problems are not Jesus' fault, and he is right to describe himself as "unlucky", but that doesn't take away from the fact that he has missed half as many games as he has played since moving to the Emirates.
So, while he's an incredibly talented footballer, it's time for Edu and Co to cut their losses, and based on recent reports, they might well be set to do just that.
Recent claims have suggested they are 'open to an exit' for the tricky Brazilian this summer and should that ultimately occur, it would not be a huge surprise at all. Injuries only continue to mount up and he cannot be trusted in a side aiming to win the Premier League title. After all, there is a reason Manchester City decided to cash in. They haven't looked back after acquiring Erling Haaland as his replacement.
Arsenal eyeing 'unstoppable' Jesus upgrade who was in London on Sunday
The incredible talent has shades of Lukas Podolski about him.
ByJack Salveson Holmes