Gabriel Jesus has revealed he broke down in tears after suffering a devastating knee injury last year.
The striker got off to a flying start at Arsenal following his summer move from Manchester City.
Gabriel Jesus admits he cried at the start of his horror knee injuryCredit: Not known, clear with picture desk
But disaster struck at the World Cup when Jesus picked up a seemingly innocuous knee injury.
The hitman was eventually forced to miss FOUR months of Arsenal’s title challenge after going under the knife.
And Jesus admits he “cried a lot” when first discovering how bad the setback was.
But the Samba star’s pain quickly turned into sheer determination.
And he vowed to focus all his efforts on recovering for the remainder of Arsenal’s title-chasing campaign.
Jesus said: “I was sad, I was crying a lot in the day.
“But as soon as day two came along, I started to laugh and smile because it was in the past.
“I was like ‘OK, job done’, now it’s time to think about the surgery and then thinking about how to come back fit and stronger than I was before.
“I don’t want to cry every day.”
Jesus made his return from injury in Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Fulham, and followed that up with appearances against Sporting Lisbon and Crystal Palace.
But he has been warned he will not stroll back into the team after seeing the likes of Leandro Trossard shine up front.
An unfortunate injury at an inopportune time.@gabrieljesus9's great start to life at Arsenal is rocked by knee surgery 🩼
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— Arsenal (@Arsenal) March 20, 2023
Boss Mikel Arteta said: “It’s great to have him back and it was such a big boost for Gabi and for the club. But now he has to earn his place in the team like every player.
“We have many alternatives who can play in different positions and fill in the chemistry of what we ask the players to do.
“But it’s a great problem to have because Gabi put so much work into the last few months and all the staff spent hours trying to fulfil his needs.”
