Is Gabriel Jesus Worth a New Arsenal Contract? Wages vs Stats

Gabriel Jesus has made it clear that he would like to extend his contract at Arsenal, but is a new deal in the club’s best interests?

The 28-year-old is currently under contract at the Emirates Stadium until June 2027.

Jesus could be sold before then, with Brazilian side Palmeiras understood to be interested in signing him.

However, the former Manchester City striker has made it clear that his preference would be to stay put.

Gabriel Jesus wants to sign new Arsenal contract

Speaking this week ahead of Arsenal’s Champions League clash with Inter Milan, Jesus told reporters: “This is my fourth season at Arsenal and unfortunately I played maybe one-and-a-half or two seasons, and then the rest with injuries.

“That never happened with me before, but happens here (at Arsenal), I don’t know why.

“My first target is to be healthy from now until the end of the season. And then obviously, like I said before, my wish is to stay at Arsenal.

“I have a contract as well. I want to extend my contract, I want to stay, I want to win trophies with Arsenal because I came here with a purpose and that’s it.”

How much does Gabriel Jesus earn at Arsenal?

Jesus has been an Arsenal player since July 2022 when he arrived from Man City for a transfer fee in the region of £45 million.

He is reported to be earning £265,000 per week with the Gunners. For context, that makes him the 12th highest-paid player in the Premier League right now.

Based on his reported weekly wage alone, Jesus — who narrowly missed out on a place in FootballBlog.co.uk‘s recent Highest-paid Premier League XI for 2026 — costs Arsenal £13.78 million per year.

Gabriel Jesus averages a goal or assist every 144 minutes

In three and a half seasons at Arsenal, Jesus has so far made 77 Premier League appearances for his current club, scoring 19 goals. He has also delivered 11 Premier League assists for the Gunners.

That equates to a goal or assist every 2.6 games. However, many of his appearances have come off the bench.

His return looks slightly more impressive when his actual minutes on the pitch are factored in. To date, Jesus has received 4,310 minutes of Premier League game time for Arsenal. He is therefore currently averaging one goal or assist every 144 minutes.

Those numbers do not put Jesus alongside the Premier League’s elite strikers. For context, Erling Haaland has scored 105 goals and assisted 20 in 119 Premier League games for Man City, giving him an attacking return in excess of one per game.

However, Jesus compares very favorably to the other specialist striker currently on Arsenal’s books.

Viktor Gyokeres, a £64m summer signing from Sporting in Portugal, has netted just five times in his first 20 Premier League games so far and has yet to register an assist.

Gabriel Jesus praises “amazing” Viktor Gyokeres

Jesus and Gyokeres are essentially rivals for the No 9 spot in Mikel Arteta’s starting XI right now. However, Jesus took the opportunity to talk up his teammate when asked about him at a press conference this week.

“Vik is an amazing player,” Jesus said. “He’s a striker who can score goals every time, at every minute.

“I have been in the position that Vik is now, and that is not easy. But I’m sure that everyone here, not only the coach and staff, the players as well, are going to support him and give him the belief that he’s here to help us.

“He has helped already a lot. And every game he has helped with something [aside from] sometimes not scoring, but he helped with another movement or fighting to win the game.”

Those comments go some way to illustrating how Jesus has developed a reputation as a top team player, both on and off the pitch. And this is one of the traits that make him a valuable asset for the Gunners.

As well as having the respect of his fellow players, Jesus is well-liked by manager Arteta.

Speaking after the striker scored his first goal of the 2025/26 season during Arsenal’s 4-1 win over Aston Villa last month, Arteta said: “Gabriel Jesus has put in an incredible effort and he’s relentless.

“He wants more, he looks really, really, really happy. His emotional state is really high at the moment and he needed that goal. I’m very happy for him.”

Should Arsenal give Gabriel Jesus a new contract?

While Jesus is arguably overpaid right now based on what he has delivered in his Arsenal career to date, he remains a vital part of Arteta’s squad.

If he is able to stay fit then there is every chance of him replacing Gyokeres as the first-choice central striker — a move that could make Arsenal’s attack much more prolific from open play.

At 28, the next two seasons could potentially prove to be peak years for Jesus.

Arsenal might be hesitant to commit to extending his contract until they are convinced he has fully recovered from the various injury issues that have plagued his time at the club to date.

But equally, it would make very little sense for them to sell him now, at a time when they are so short on players in his position and so close to winning a first Premier League title since 2004.