Can Gabriel Jesus break Arsenal’s number nine curse?

Arsenal’s announcement of a new number nine is imminent with Gabriel Jesus set to join the club from Manchester City for a reported £45m.

Jesus will be the eighth Arsenal player to don the number after Nicolas Anelka left the club for Real Madrid in 1999. Of the players to have worn the number since, Lukas Podolski has to be regarded as the most successful in north London.

The German international contributed to 48 goals in 82 appearances for the club, all while endearing himself to supporters and emerging as a firm fan favourite following his antics at White Hart Lane in 2014.

Podolski, though, was far from a superstar and the fact that he represents a glowing period in the number nine’s recent history at Arsenal says more about the shirt’s apparent curse than it does the German’s genius.

A look at Arsenal’s number 9 curse and can Gabriel Jesus break it?

Hindsight is always 20/20, but looking back at the players to have received this hypothetically prestigious shirt was… questionable to say the least.

The likes of Chu-Young Park, Lucas Perez, Julio Baptista, Francis Jeffers, and Davor Suker all failed to make it to the 50 appearance threshold for the Gunners. That’s five out of the eight players to have donned the shirt since Anelka departed. The late Jose Antonio Reyes and Alex Lacazette were the only ones to eclipse 100 appearances in north London with the latter playing as many as 206 games for the club.

An argument could be made that Lacazette was far from cursed with the number nine at Arsenal as he enjoyed a fairly productive five-year spell in north London. Registering 106 goals and assists in 206 matches is far from a horrendous output, but I do think many fans and likely the club would have liked more from their then record-breaking investment.

So, does Arsenal’s number nine curse even exist? Well, it depends on who you ask, I suppose. Compare our number nine woes to Chelsea’s, who have seen many high-profile players and signings struggle to bear the weight of the number, and our ‘curse’ dissipates into the abyss. The likes of Fernando Torres, Radamel Falcao, Alvaro Morata, Gonzalo Higuain and, most recently, Romelu Lukaku all flopped during their respective spells at Stamford Bridge.

On the contrary, I don’t think enough Arsenal number nines had the stature to really make the number cursed.

This is likely great news for Arsenal’s newest player. Like many, I am very excited about Gabriel Jesus’ arrival, and I believe that he’ll do great things at Arsenal. But it’s worth mentioning that Jesus has never been a crazy high-output player. He does a lot of work off the ball and his capacity to bring others into play will be invaluable.

Fans mustn’t turn on the Brazilian if he doesn’t meet their goal-scoring expectations. If Gabriel hits 15 Premier League goals this season, I would consider that to be an excellent start for him and I’m backing him to emerge as the most successful number nine wearer in the 21st century for the Gunners.