Former West Ham United striker Frank McAvennie has told Gabriel Jesus that the only way he could return to Arsenal’s starting lineup after his full recovery is to fight to get back his position.

Before his long injury layoff, the Brazilian was a constant feature in Mikel Arteta’s XI, but McAvennie has now told him not to expect to walk straight into the first team when he returns from his long-term injury.

According to him, the former Manchester City attacker will have to fight and compete for his place with Eddie Nketiah, who has done exceptionally well in his absence.

Jesus suffered ligament damage at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and is now recovering from surgery.

But Mikel Arteta’s side have continued with life as if nothing happened and have hardly missed the striker.

“I do not think they have missed him. Nketiah is scoring goals, and you can see Arteta was able to bring that out of him.

“Jesus coming back is a competition now. Arsenal changed as soon as he and [Oleksandr] Zinchenko came from Manchester City,” he told Football Insider.