Mikel Arteta identifies Gabriel Jesus' two key traits after "chaos" comment

Mikel Arteta was full of praise for new signing Gabriel Jesus after Arsenal's 2-0 victory against Premier League rivals Everton in Baltimore.

The Gunners made an impressive start to their pre-season tour of the US with Jesus and Bukayo Saka finding the back of the net against Frank Lampard's side. That's Arsenal's third win of pre-season after emphatic victories against Ipswich (5-1) and Nurnburg (5-3).

Jesus now has three goals in his first two Arsenal appearances and it's easy to see why Arteta signed the Brazilian from Manchester City for £45million. The Gunners lacked goals last season, scoring 61 in the Premier League - 28 fewer than champions City.

"He [Gabriel] creates chaos, he creates uncertainty and he's always on your shoulder," Arteta told Arsenal's website - highlighting Jesus' strengths. "He's always there to nick the ball off you, he's always in front of the goal. He's a real threat and this is what we need.

"And then he's the one. The moment we give the ball away he is straight away active and putting pressure and getting his team behind him. "He has a lot of leadership skills, I can see straight away what he's doing with the boys and he's the type of guy that we want."

Arteta added: "He's very versatile, but obviously the way we would like to develop him is in that position (centre-forward). But not on his own sometimes, but don't close that door because Gabby [Martinelli] in relation to what the opponent does in certain games we are going to have to use him in different positions. He is open to that and he knows it's part of his strength as well."

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Arteta went on to discuss the qualities Jesus and fellow striker Eddie Nketiah have in greater detail. Nketiah is Arsenal's other senior forward after recently signing a new long-term contract and taking the iconic No.14 jersey, which used to belong to Thierry Henry.

"They have everything that we need," said Arteta. "First of all they are really intense, both of them. They way they can press, the way they can sustain pressure with the opponent is great. Both of them can thread it in behind which allows people to have spaces inside.

"They are really good in link up play and both have an eye for goal, which is what the 9s do. But they are not just 9s, they have all the qualities for the way we play, they are fantastic."

Arteta also believes the modern-day forward is not simply just a goalscorer. "It depends, look at Harry Kane, look at [Ering] Haaland," he adds. "I think at the moment there are certain strikers that are available, they grow, they have their moments in European football.

"It depends on the qualities, another one with completely different qualities scores 45 goals every season. So it's what is available and what the team needs."

Arsenal will now head to Florida to take on Orlando City and Chelsea before flying home for the Emirates Cup clash against Sevilla. Their new Premier League campaign gets underway against Patrick Vieira's Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on August 5.