“He’s got to sack him first if he really want to show he’s better than Edu”- talkSPORT pundit Darren Bent names the first player Arsenal will SELL this summer following the appointment of new Sporting Director Andrea Berta
Arsenal need to raise funds by selling players before they can afford to buy the top-quality striker Mikel Arteta craves and Darren Bent believes he’s found the best option
Arsenal should sell Gabriel Jesus in the summer transfer window to fund new attacking arrivals, according to Darren Bent. Jesus will not play any further part for the Gunners this season, having suffered a serious knee injury in mid-January.
He has struggled with injuries during his time in north London and only managed to complete 90 minutes three times in the Premier League in 2024/25. The Brazil international cost Arsenal £45million from Manchester City in the summer of 2022, but hasn’t lived up to his billing, returning just 26 goals in 96 appearances for the club.
Jesus still has two years left on his current contract, but his future at Arsenal is looking uncertain after another underwhelming campaign in which he managed seven goals and two assists in 27 games. Arsenal are in the market for a new striker, with their squad depth issues becoming obvious after Jesus and Kai Havertz went down injured.
They have previously pursued Newcastle ’s Alexander Isak, RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko and Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams and Mikel Arteta has confirmed they will be busy this summer. The Gunners need to sell to be able to afford a top-quality centre-forward and Bent believes Jesus is the most obvious option to offload.
He said on talkSPORT: “Gabriel Jesus. He’s got to go. I think he will be the first to go, Gabriel Jesus. Because when I think of the left side, it’s [Leandro] Trossard and [Gabriel] Martinelli.
“You keep Trossard for an option off the bench, but not as a starter; he plays too many minutes. You’ve got Trossard and Martinelli on the left.
“Centre-forward, you’ve got Havertz at the minute and Gabriel Jesus. Gabriel Jesus can go. On the right, you’ve got [Bukayo] Saka and [Ethan] Nwaneri. It’s that centre-forward role, I think, that needs to be looked at.”
Arteta has often defended Jesus from criticism for his meagre goalscoring numbers – which read just three in 17 Premier League games this season – but he knows the club must be ambitious in the upcoming transfer window if they are to close the 12-point gap to Liverpool in 2025/26.
“It’s going to be a big one and we are very excited about it,” Arteta said on Monday. “When you are going to go again, we want to increase the depth of the squad and the quality and the skills that we need to go to the next step.
“Every summer is big because it is an opportunity and especially because of the number of players we have in the squad right now that is necessary. But it’s a big summer for many things because first of all we have to maintain the good foundations that we have and then obviously how can we improve and evolve the team.”