Real Madrid missed out on Gabriel Jesus and Arsenal clearly struck their deal for the Brazilian striker at the right time.
The Gunners were desperate for a new striker this summer.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was allowed to leave in January and Alexandre Lacazette’s contract expired this summer.
Eddie Nketiah was kept but Arsenal simply had to spend on a new goalscorer – and what a deal they pulled off.
Arsenal paid £45million to sign Gabriel Jesus and the Brazilian has made a great start, bagging three goals and three assists in six Premier League outings.
Real Madrid missed out on Gabriel Jesus
That fee already looks like a bargain, and Arsenal will be glad they got their deal done when they did.
Fabrizio Romano notes that Real Madrid wanted to sign Jesus over the summer.
However, Romano claims a deal for Jesus ‘collapsed’ in June because Real Madrid couldn’t free up a non-EU spot in their squad.
On Monday, Brazilian winger Vinicius Junior received his Spanish passport and now frees up that non-EU spot for a future signing.
Talk about the perfect timing.
Arsenal will be absolutely delighted that Real have only just managed to free up that spot, as the hold-up allowed them a free run at Jesus.
Arsenal secured Jesus on July 4th, so that two-month gap between their deal and Vinicius Junior’s passport arriving proved to be key.
Romano now has another update on the situation, telling The Here We Go podcast that Carlo Ancelotti is a huge fan of Jesus.
Romano added that Jesus was ‘always’ tempted by Arsenal though and isn’t even sure that Real could have lured him away from the Gunners.
“Real Madrid and in particular Carlo Ancelotti are big fans of Gabriel Jesus,” said Romano. “What happened was that they were not able to negotiate with Manchester City or with Gabriel because of the passport situation.”
“At that point in May, June and July, it was not possible for Real Madrid to proceed, but he was one of the top targets for Ancelotti after missing out on Kylian Mbappe.”
“Let me mention that Gabriel has always been tempted by Arsenal, so I’m not sure that Real Madrid had a chance to change this,” he added.
Jesus has been absolutely perfect for Arsenal and seeing him in red and white rather than becoming Real’s new star striker is a blessing for all Gunners fans.
Given that Jesus was inside the final year of his deal, it may have been somewhat tempting to try and get him for a pittance in 2023, but Edu moved this summer and his urgency has certainly paid off.
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