Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said he was “very surprised” by Gabriel Jesus’ account of how his final days at the club unfolded before his move to Barcelona.
Jesus, 29, joined Barcelona from Arsenal on September 1 after the two clubs reached an agreement for his transfer. The Brazilian signed a contract running until June 2029, ending a four-year spell in north London during which he scored 32 goals and provided 22 assists in 123 appearances.
The controversy centres on Jesus’ claim that he was unexpectedly removed from Arsenal’s first-team training shortly before the transfer. Speaking after completing his move to Barcelona, the striker said he had gone through pre-season normally and already understood that his playing opportunities might be limited. He said, however, that nobody had told him he would be separated from the group before he was instructed to train on his own.
Jesus said the situation changed quickly during the final week of the transfer window, when Barcelona's interest developed into a concrete opportunity. He accepted the move immediately and described the chance to join the Catalan club as something that made him very happy.
Arteta has now given his side of the story. Asked about Jesus' comments before Arsenal's Premier League trip to Sunderland, the manager said he was “very surprised” because he had personally spoken with the striker in the dressing room.
According to Arteta, their conversation was focused on gratitude for Jesus' contribution to Arsenal. The manager suggested that difficult decisions can sometimes produce different reactions from players, particularly when they receive news they did not expect.
Arteta also appeared keen to prevent the disagreement from becoming a lasting dispute. He pointed to former Arsenal forward Leandro Trossard, who recently returned to the club after leaving for Besiktas and was welcomed back into the dressing room.
The comparison was significant. Arteta said relationships with departing players should ultimately be judged by what happens months after a transfer rather than by the emotions surrounding the player's exit. He expressed hope that Jesus could also return to Arsenal in the future without hostility between the two sides.
There is therefore a clear difference between the two accounts, but the available information does not establish that either side is deliberately misleading the public. Jesus was describing his experience of being separated from the squad, while Arteta was referring to a private conversation that he says took place before the player's departure.
What is clear is that Jesus' position at Arsenal had changed significantly. After arriving from Manchester City in 2022, he initially became an important part of Arteta's attack. Injuries, however, interrupted his time at the club, including an anterior cruciate ligament injury that kept him out for much of 2025. He later returned and helped Arsenal win the 2025/26 Premier League title, scoring three goals in 14 appearances.
By the beginning of the 2026/27 campaign, competition for attacking positions had made regular football increasingly difficult for Jesus. His departure eventually gave him the opportunity to restart his career at Barcelona, where he has already scored his first goal for the club in the Champions League against Feyenoord.
For Barcelona, Jesus represents an experienced forward who has already played at the highest level in England and Europe. For the player, the transfer offers a fresh opportunity after an increasingly complicated final period at Arsenal.
For Arsenal, meanwhile, the focus has already moved to the season ahead. The club has started strongly and remains focused on defending its Premier League title, while Arteta has made it clear that he does not want the circumstances surrounding Jesus' departure to become a distraction.
The disagreement is ultimately less about whether Jesus should have left Arsenal and more about how the final stage of his time at the club was communicated. A player can understand that his future lies elsewhere and still feel frustrated by the way the process is handled.
For now, the two sides have offered different perspectives on those final days, but neither has publicly suggested that the relationship has completely broken down. Whether the disagreement fades with time will likely depend on how Jesus' Barcelona career develops and whether the player and Arsenal eventually reach the kind of cordial relationship Arteta says he hopes to maintain.
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