Gabriel Jesus has acknowledged that William Saliba’s injury made it more difficult for Arsenal to contend for the title at the end of the 2022–23 campaign.
Saliba suffered a major back injury during Arsenal’s Europa League loss to Sporting CP back in mid-March, forcing him to miss the last two months of the Premier League season.
The Gunners had a solid five-point lead at the top of the Premier League standings at the time, but after going four games without a victory in April without their star defense, they would go on to finish five points behind Manchester City, the league champion.
Saliba’s injury was one of many to important players Arsenal had to contend with last season; the most prominent was the one Jesus himself sustained during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. After sustaining a knee injury in Qatar during a particularly hectic stretch of the 2022–23 season for the Gunners, the forward missed 15 games of the season.
Speaking on the Denilson Show however, Jesus was keen to state that his injury did not affect Arsenal’s performances as much as Saliba’s did, stating that team struggled to cope without the French international at the back.
“When he [Saliba] plays, we concede few goals, when he doesn’t play, the number [of goals conceded] increases,” Jesus acknowledged.
“When I got injured, Eddie [Nketiah] replaced me very well. Then we signed Leo [Trossard). We kept the pace. But when Saliba got injured, it was complicated. The other defenders are good, but we were playing in a certain way. Look at the stats, we concede a lot less with him.”
Arsenal has already made significant summer spending in order to bolster their squade in preparation for the upcoming 2023–24 Premier League season in order to better manage injury issues.
Kai Havertz came from Chelsea for £65 million, and according to reports, deals worth £105 million for Declan Rice and £40 million for Jurrien Timber would be finalized by the end of this week.