Arsenal want Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City but Premier League legend Cesc Fabregas admits he expected the Gunners to prioritise ‘another type of striker’, speaking to London World.
On paper at least, there are a number of reasons why a summer swoop for City’s Brazil international makes sense.
Jesus, after all, is proven in the Premier League. He’d slot in nicely to a dressing room with plenty of Portuguese speakers. What’s more, Jesus worked under Mikel Arteta at the Etihad Stadium too.
According to Goal, Arsenal submitted a £43 million bid recently. Should City accept, Jesus will also come a lot cheaper than, say Dusan Vlahovic, Darwin Nunez, Alexander Isak and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
But while expressing his belief that a prolific goalscorer ‘would take Arsenal to the next level’, former captain Fabregas is wondering whether Jesus is capable of scoring at a reliable enough rate without Kevin de Bruyne and co serving up chances on a silver platter.
Arsenal want Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City
“The only thing missing (at Arsenal) is the striker,” says the 2010 World Cup winner. “I think if they had a consistent striker, a top player who scores 25 to 30 goals a season like Liverpool with (Mo) Salah, that would take them to the next level.
“(But) I expected Arsenal to sign another type of striker – someone who attacks the space more. I really like (Gabriel Jesus) as a player and I think he can do a little bit of everything, but I wouldn’t say he’s amazing at anything.
“Sometimes, when you’ve got De Bruyne, (Ilkay) Gundogan and Bernardo Silva behind you, it can feel easy for you as a player. At Arsenal, for some time at least, he will not have those kind of players behind him.”
Arsenal are hardly short of talented forwards. But, as Fabregas points out, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe are not quite at the same level as Man City’s sprawling galaxy of attacking stars.
Jesus has reached double figures in just one of the last four Premier League seasons, meanwhile, and has spent much of the last 12 months in a wider role, at least in contrast to classic ‘number nines’ like Nunez, Vlahovic and Calvert-Lewin.
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“We had talks with Arsenal about Gabriel Jesus,” the 25-year-old’s agent tells Fabrizio Romano. “We like the project. It’s a possibility we’re discussing.
“There are six more clubs interested in Gabriel.”
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