Arsenal have a huge squad now thanks to the work Andrea Berta did in the summer.
The Gunners suffered a lot due to injuries in the 2024/25 season. Many feel that is the reason why they ended the campaign without a major trophy.
Mikel Arteta was desperate to avoid a repeat of that, so the Arsenal manager, along with Berta, signed eight new players in what was an incredible window.
That has made the Gunners significantly stronger – Thierry Henry thinks his old club’s squad depth is better than that of any other team right now.
Thierry Henry forgets that Gabriel Jesus still plays for Arsenal
Arsenal have at least two top players in each position right now.
Arteta has the option to rest players whenever he wants as a result, and the Gunners can deal with injuries comfortably now as well.
Losing Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz and Ben White would’ve been a disaster in previous seasons, but that has not been a problem at all this time around.
On CBS Sports, Arsenal legend Henry was making the exact same point, and he named some of the players who weren’t in the squad to face Athletic Club on Tuesday.
Jamie Carragher reminded the Frenchman about Gabriel Jesus after he failed to name him. Henry replied that he forgot the Brazilian was still at the club.
Here’s how their conversation went…
Henry: “Right now, I will say that nobody has a team as deep as Arsenal in terms of the quality that they can have. Some teams can give them a good run for the starting XI, but if you look at the team itself, it’s almost two teams.
“When you see who is on the bench tonight, and you’re still missing Odegaard, Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka…
Carragher: “And Jesus!”
Henry: “And Jesus, yes (laughs), I even forgot.”
When is Gabriel Jesus expected to return from his injury?
Jesus suffered a serious knee injury during a game against Manchester United in January.
The Brazil international had just found some form at the time, so an injury of such magnitude was a crushing blow for himself as well as Arsenal.
Jesus has been working hard behind the scenes since, and there was some hope that he could return in October.
However, Arteta revealed before the Nottingham Forest game that Jesus is only expected to be back in December or January.
Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
When asked why the striker was left out of the Champions League squad, Arteta said: “He had major surgery that was going to take him many, many months.
“So, after discussing that with the medical staff and understanding the schedule that we had and when we thought that he could be available, that it would be between December and January, we decided to make that call, like we’ve done in the past with other players.
“Hopefully, we did it wrong and he comes back earlier. But at the moment, the provision was very clear.”