The presence of Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus in the Brazil squad has baffled Neto with the former Selecao ace labelling the Premier League frontman a ‘mediocre’ player.
This is not the first time the outspoken pundit has questioned the involvement of an Arsenal player in the Brazil roster either.
It was Gabriel Martinelli who suffered the sting of Neto’s nettles a couple of days ago. And, this time, it was Gabriel Jesus’ turn to feel the glare of the microscope (The Standard).
Arsenal’s Gabriel Jesus in Brazil squad
“Why is Gabriel Jesus in the team? It is not possible for a centre-forward who has not scored a goal in two World Cups (to be included)”, the Corinthians icon tells Os Donos da Bola.
“I can’t belittle Gabriel Jesus.”
You could have fooled us, Neto!
“But, as a national team player, he is mediocre,” he continues. “He’s not a centre-forward. He is not Careca, not Ronaldo, Romario, or Vava.”
In Neto’s defence, it is not as if Jesus has set the world alight in that famous yellow jersey. As the man himself points out, Jesus has not scored a single goal in two World Cups, with his overall record for Brazil standing at just 19 in 63 games.
‘Mediocre’ indeed.
Ruled out of Colombia clash
And, just to add to the confusion surrounding his call-up, Jesus has also missed the last few Arsenal matches with a hamstring injury, Friday’s World Cup qualifier against Colombia coming to soon for the former Manchester City forward.
“You call up an injured player!,” adds an incredulous Neto. “He doesn’t train! I saw that yesterday.”
Jesus could, at least, return for the crunch crash with Brazil’s arch rivals Argentina early next week, interim head coach Fernando Diniz keen to discover the extent of his fitness first-hand.
“We are going to bring Gabriel to find out the real conditions,” Diniz explains, via The Mirror. “We believe that he will be able to play. I like him a lot.”
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