"Very surprised" — that was Mikel Arteta's measured response to Gabriel Jesus telling the world he was banished from Arsenal training and left in silence before his exit to Barcelona. It's the kind of public airing that managers hate, and Arteta isn't pretending otherwise.
Jesus told SportyTV this week that Arsenal pulled him from group sessions without explanation in the final stretch of the transfer window. "From nothing, they put me to train away from the group," he said. "Nobody told me nothing." Strong words from a player who'd spent four years at the Emirates, scored 32 goals in 123 appearances, and was part of last season's title-winning squad.
Arteta's version is very different
The Arsenal boss says he sat down with Jesus personally. "I had an individual talk in the dressing room," Arteta said ahead of the Sunderland cup tie. "The words that we used for each other, it was all about gratitude."
So either those words didn't land the way Arteta intended, or Jesus's public account is more cathartic than accurate. Possibly both. Arteta, to his credit, didn't dig in aggressively — he acknowledged that players react emotionally when told they're no longer part of the plan. "Sometimes I understand when you have to deliver bad news. Those things are reactive."
The charitable reading is that Arteta told Jesus one thing in person, then the training ground reality told him another. Being separated from the group, whatever the rationale, sends a clear message that no dressing room speech fully undoes.
Jesus has already moved on — literally
None of this is hurting Jesus right now. He signed a three-year deal with Barça on September 1 for £8.6 million and scored on his home debut in a 5-1 Champions League win over Feyenoord on Wednesday. The audition couldn't have gone better.
Arsenal, meanwhile, offloaded 10 players this summer — Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard, Jakub Kiwior, Fábio Vieira, Christian Nørgaard, Karl Hein, Reiss Nelson on permanent deals, plus loans for Ethan Nwaneri and Tommy Setford. That's a significant squad overhaul, and the internal dynamics of managing that many exits rarely stay clean.
Arteta pointed to Trossard's return as proof the relationships survive. "With all the players that left, at some point their relationship has been really good. I hope that's the same case." Whether Jesus eventually agrees probably depends on how his time at Barça goes — and right now, it's going just fine.
