The mentality shift at the Emirates
When Jesus swapped Manchester for north London, he brought a serial winner's pedigree to a young dressing room. The Brazilian revealed that his initial claims regarding Arsenal's title credentials were not immediately embraced by a squad that had grown accustomed to battling for the top four rather than the top prize.
The forward noted that several players initially joked about his optimism, suggesting he might have joined the wrong club if he expected immediate silverware. However, that scepticism has since evaporated as Mikel Arteta’s side established themselves as the primary challengers to Manchester City’s domestic dominance in recent seasons.
“A few of them laughed,” Jesus said, reflecting on his early title aspirations. “They said: ‘Ah, maybe you signed for the wrong club’. I asked them why. With the quality in our team, why couldn’t we go and win the league?”
Becomes a laughing stock
Jesus recalled the early days of his Arsenal career and how the internal expectations have evolved. The striker believes the group has finally turned a corner emotionally after finishing as runners-up in three consecutive seasons.
"It’s a process that you have to respect," Jesus told The Athletic. "We’ve gone from fighting hard to qualify for the Champions League to fighting for the title. We need to be happy about that. Our team is now more experienced, more mature. We can win the league this season and maybe another trophy as well. The Arsenal fans were probably going to say the Premier League because it’s been more than 20 years. But they also never won the Champions League, so obviously for them it’s a dream to win both. Me, I want to win everything, but if I have to choose, it’s the Champions League."
Facing the fear of the title race
Despite leading City by nine points - having played one game more - Jesus is wary of the bad memories from previous late-season collapses. He revealed that the squad has held "strong talks" with the club's board to ensure they remain mentally resilient during the final stretch of the season.
"When you have [success], you can be scared of losing it," Jesus remarked. "We still don’t have it, so we cannot be scared. We cannot lose something we don’t have. We need to go out there, game by game, and try to win."
What comes next?
The Gunners are still in contention for a quadruple this season, with the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup remaining. Their first title challenge is a clash against City in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, before facing Southampton in the FA Cup quarter-finals.