MY ACCOUNT
Gabriel Jesus has revealed he was persuaded to join Arsenal after Edu and Mikel Arteta ‘surprised’ him with data on his career and how he can improve his game.
The Brazilian forward joins the north London side after five trophy-laden years at Manchester City, where he worked with Arteta during his spell as assistant manager to Pep Guardiola.
Jesus’ arrival comes amid a period of transition within Arsenal’s attack, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joining Barcelona in January and Alexandre Lacazette returning to Lyon on a free transfer following the expiration of his contract.
Arsenal’s capture of Jesus is a major statement of intent and comes in a recruitment drive that has seen the Gunners splash over £100 million for the second season in a row, with Oleksandr Zinchenko the latest arrival having also swapped City for Arsenal.
Giving up Champions League football to join Arsenal, the decision to move came in a crucial period for Jesus ahead of the World Cup later this year and Jesus has admitted he was ‘surprised’ by what was presented to him.
“When we started to talk about the transfer it was with Edu, and I knew already then that Mikel wanted me to come to join the club. They showed me the project and everything about the club,” he told the Athletic.
“Then they showed me some stuff about my statistics and I was so surprised. They want to me to come, to help, to improve as a player so, yeah, that’s why I’m here.
“I’ve worked with [Arteta] at City so I know him a bit. He helped me a lot to improve my finishing after training sessions, that’s what I know about him.
“Then we talked a little bit before I joined and he explained to me the project and everything. In life you always want to do everything with a reason, that’s why I came to try to help and to learn and to win with the team.”
Jesus has quickly found his feet at Arsenal having scored a brace in a 5-3 win against Nurnberg, before then scoring in a 2-0 victory over Everton in the Gunners’ tour of the United States.
