Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta believes new signings Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko will provide a winning mentality previously missing from his squad.
Arteta spent around £75million to land Brazilian forward Jesus and Ukrainian full-back Zinchenko from champions Manchester City this summer.
The Spaniard is set to hand both players their Premier League debuts in the opener at Crystal Palace on Friday evening. “Those players have been inspired by top players, top professionals, ruthless winners for many years,” said Arteta. “They were looking at them, and now it’s their turn to do the same and inspire those younger players that we have in our squad to do the same and to show them what it takes to win, and the level of detail, hunger and dedication that you need to keep winning.” Jesus is already revelling in the central striker’s role, with the 25-year-old scoring seven goals during pre-season. “The role that Gabi has here is going to be very different to the role that Gabi had in his previous club,” Arteta added. “That needs some adaptation and time and we are all surprised with how quickly he’s done it, but we have to share that responsibility. “He’s a tremendous talent with a mentality that is so contagious and he’s going to give us a lot, but it’s a team at the end of the day.” Patrick Vieira, meanwhile, admitted Arteta’s new additions will present a “completely different” challenge from the squad Palace beat 3-0 in the Gunners’ trip to Selhurst Park last season. “I think they’re in a better place than last year,” said the Eagles boss of his former club. “The new players they have brought in, they are much stronger.