Mikel Arteta hints at Arsenal selection decision after brutal Viktor Gyokeres verdict

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Mikel Arteta has revealed that Gabriel Jesus is now ready to start for Arsenal after coming back from a devastating ACL injury . The Brazilian forward will 'deserve a chance soon' as he competes with Viktor Gyokeres and Mikel Merino for a place up front.

Jesus picked up the injury in January having shown good goalscoring form 12 months ago. The former Manchester City ace underwent a lengthy rehabilitation period and made his return to action earlier this month.

He has since come off the bench three times in the last month, i ncluding a 25-minute appearance against Everton . And the striker is champing at the bit for his chance.

"Yes, he is," said Arteta, when asked if Jesus was capable of starting a match in his press conference ahead of Arsenal's clash against Crystal Palace . "You can see now, not only in games, every day in training, how much he wants it. He's going to deserve a chance soon."

The Spanish coach believes Jesus, set to make his 100th Arsenal appearance, will be able to unlock his team-mates in a way that Gyokeres does not. "I think that's probably the biggest quality of Gabi, bringing people together, connecting with people and generating a lot of uncertainty in the opponent," Arteta added.

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"When you see him today, the amount of spaces that he was involved in, that's his biggest quality. So we need to exploit that."

Jesus' return comes as Gyokeres comes under scrutiny for his form in Arsenal colours. The Swede scored his fifth Premier League goal against Everton but drew criticism for his performance.

Jamie Redknapp was not impressed with what he saw. "He did okay, it’s a struggle for him at the moment, I think he’s finding it hard up there," he said on Sky Sports .

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"It’s his fifth goal of the season… for whatever reason, and it shouldn’t be the case because he’s been in the English leagues before, it looks like he’s really struggling with the physicality of it.

"Considering he’s a very big guy, I very rarely see him win a duel one on one, when I thought he could physically overpower people. In terms of his finesse, his touch, bringing people into play – not good enough.

"He’s finding it tough. He needs a little bit of confidence. Look, he’s never going to be like a Bergkamp who is going to bring the ball, roll people and play little clever passes, he’s a battering ram who is going to score goals, make big moments and hopefully win you games.

"You can argue that tonight, yes, he won the game but he won it with a penalty. You want to see him win games with really important goals that are going to make the difference in the big games.

"At the moment, he’s done okay, I don’t think you can say anything more than that."

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