Gabriel Jesus admits Arsenal move has restored his self-belief

Gabriel Jesus says he has rediscovered his confidence as a player after making a goalscoring start to life at Arsenal.

The Brazilian netted twice – and grabbed a pair of assists – in his side’s 4-2 victory over Leicester City at the Emirates Stadium.

And the Brazilian says he is back on the right track after being entrusted by new boss Mikel Arteta to lead the line for the Gunners.

“I am lucky, blessed, to have the characteristics to play across the three positions in the front, and even as a second striker with another No.9,” Jesus told ESPN.

“After the World Cup, it ended up that in the national team I started to play more as the winger, at Man City too, so it’s normal as a player to take it and think that you can’t play as a No.9, and I had this in my head for a long time.

“Now I have a different mind, I believe in myself a lot more, I’m back to smiling, to having confidence playing and that’s why things are working out.

“For a long time I thought like that, but I’ve returned, the usual Gabriel, thinking that I can play as a No.9, that I’m there to finish, to help, not just to score goals, but to come short, play, get back up.”

The Brazil international has enjoyed consecutive starts as the central striker to open the Premier League season, but he has refuted the notion that he came to Arsenal to act as the spearhead of the team.

“There is a lot of talk about this business of taking responsibility, of being ‘the guy’ of the team,” added Jesus. “Make it clear that I didn’t come to be ‘the guy’ of the team. I came to play, to be happy, to help, to learn.

“Obviously, nowadays if you’re scoring a goal, you’re performing, it’s usually natural that your name starts to be spoken more.”