Pep Guardiola has justified Man City’s decision to sell Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal, ahead of his side’s FA Cup 4th Round clash with Mikel Arteta’s side.
Guardiola on why selling Jesus & Zinchenko to Arsenal was justified
Seeing how the former City duo have been vital to the Gunners climbing up to the top of the Premier League table, the Catalan boss has been slated for sanctioning their sales.
Considering Joao Cancelo has struggled to break into the side after the World Cup and the Sky Blues lack a genuine off-the-ball threat out wide, this has become a common point of criticism aimed at the 52-year-old.
However, Pep Guardiola has fired back at claims that selling Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal was ‘not a good decision.’
“Why not? Because they are winning? My friend, Aleks [Zinchenko] and Gabriel [Jesus] have been amazing with us [Man City], incredible respect as persons and players. Of course, we want to beat them.”
“I’m more than delighted, because the players, both clubs agree. Many times, Aleks could leave and he wanted to stay. Gabriel the same, we agreed. Arsenal wanted him. It’s going well for them, congratulations”, he told Manchester Evening News’ Joe Bray.
In our view: Guardiola is spot on
Of course, Arsenal duo Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko would have strengthened Man City’s title bid, had they been operating under Pep Guardiola this season.
However, the decision to sell Jesus, for starters was justified, as his off-the-ball qualities are not best reflected out wide and up front, Julian Alvarez already looks like an upgrade.
As for Zinchenko, the error was not to let him go but rather to not find an able replacement, as the club decided not to pay over the odds for Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella.
While this may be an unpopular opinion, Pep Guardiola is certainly not at fault for letting go of Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, who are now thriving at Arsenal.
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