When we signed Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, I commented whether they had developed the man strength needed to be a Premier League regular.

Man strength is what you gain over the years of being a man without hitting the gym. It is years of working onsite, or whatever, and it leads to a natural gain on your physical strength over the years.

In football terms, man strength is built by playing week in, week out from your teenage years. That slowly builds a players physical ability, their stamina, resilience and recovery.

The likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Bukayo Saka have built that man strength from playing regular football at the highest level from their teenage years into their early 20s.

During this development period, Jesus and Zinchenko spent a lot of time on the bench for Manchester City. They became victims of Pep’s rotation system and this resulted in them reaching 25 without having ever been a first team Premier League regular.

Both now suffer injury after injury, and I think a big reason for that is due to not playing enough during their early years in England. Neither built the natural resilience needed to start 40+ games a season.

Gabriel Jesus joined us 18 months ago. A key reason for his move was to be a regular week in week out striker, rather than back up and cover down the middle and outwide.

Since joining, he has spent 5 spells in the treatment room, missing over 30 games for The Arsenal.

Jesus turns 27 in April and there has been a lot of talk about us needing to sign a new striker.

In the past, I have said a new forward signing needs to be someone who can play upfront, covering Jesus, and play on the wingers covering Martinelli and Saka. Versatile cover for all 3 forward positions.

I now think that Jesus is the man to play that role.

We go out and buy another top striker and Jesus then becomes the alternative option that he was at Man City. He is the quality back up and completion for the new centre forward , whilst also providing an alternative to Martinelli and Saka outwide.

Jesus would be able to rotate into any of those three positions, allowing us to rest someone without losing quality. He would also make a tremendous option coming in off the bench.

I believe that Martinelli is a 60 minute player. He puts so much energy into his game that after the hour mark, he is blowing on fumes. Imagine bringing on Jesus for Martinelli after an hour. Or leaving him on the bench whilst Jesus start!

Jesus will not be happy with this new role. It is the same role that he had at Manchester City. But his injury issues have changed the narrative. It can no longer be someone to back up Jesus that we need to sign, it is someone who can play ahead of Jesus.

And if in 18 months time, Jesus is unhappy about being a squad player, the door is open for him to leave.

He will be 28, so Arsenal will still get a good feee for him, and he might find playing in Spain with their less physical game more suitable to his fragile body.

These are the big decisions Mikel Arteta needs to take to make us even more competitive.

Keenos