Back in August, Manchester City confirmed the signing of Brazilian international Gabriel Jesus in a deal potentially worth up to £31 million including add-ons.
Having completed the domestic season with Palmeiras last month, guiding them to a first title in 22 years, the 19-year-old arrived at the Etihad on January 1 in a five-year deal.
Speaking to the club’s official website about the move, Jesus revealed he was keen to learn from City boss Pep Guardiola:
“Manchester City is one of the best clubs in the world so I’m really pleased to sign. We have many great talents in the team and a fantastic manager in Pep Guardiola that I can learn so much from. I’m looking forward to showing the City fans what I can do and I think we’ll have a great future together.”
The History
Born in Sao Paulo, Jesus played for a number of amateur clubs before linking up with Palmeiras in July 2013 at the age of 16.
He immediately excelled at youth level, scoring 54 goals in 48 matches during his first year with the club, before netting 37 times in 22 appearances in the state U17 Championship.
After featuring in a number of matchday squads during the 2014 campaign, the teenager was eventually handed a senior debut in March 2015, coming on as a substitute against CA Bragantino in the Campeonato Paulista.
Two months later, he made his debut in the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A against Atletico Mineiro, and would go on to make 20 league appearances in total, scoring four goals and registering two assists.
Jesus totalled 13 goals and four assists in 20 league outings in the previous campaign, while he was also named the player of the season.
He also played five matches in the Copa Libertadores last term, scoring four goals, although Palmeiras failed to make it past the group stage.
The young attacker first represented Brazil at U20 level, scoring two goals in 10 appearances, before stepping up to the U23 side, where he netted five times in 11 matches, and was part of the side that won the Olympic tournament last year.
He made his senior debut against Ecuador in September 2016, scoring twice in a 3-0 win.
Jesus has made six appearances for Brazil so far, winning all six matches, and has registered a hugely impressive five goals and four assists.
The Prospects
The new boy was unavailable for City’s clash with Burnley yesterday and only touched down in Manchester earlier this morning after a long-haul flight from Brazil.
Quizzed on the attacker’s chances of quickly breaking into City’s starting line-up, Guardiola reckons he won’t take long in regaining his match sharpness after the end of the Brazilian season last month:
‘We’re going to see. Of course he’s a young player. He was three years without holiday. He’s fit, young, he was just two or three weeks not training so I don’t think we’re going to need to spend too much time to get him fit.’
Although Jesus is rated as one of the hottest young talents in world football, the competition for places in Guardiola’s City squad make it unlikely he’ll warrant a regular place in the starting XI, at least initially as he acclimatises to life in England.
A versatile forward, he is capable of playing both as a wide attacker, a No 10 and as a central striker – a role in which he’s thrived in for the Brazilian national side.
He boasts a blistering turn of pace, while his trickery makes him an extremely dangerous dribbler and deadly in one-on-one situations.
It’s his tenacity and aggression without the ball that will also appeal to Guardiola, though, with the attacker perhaps more suited to that side of the game than Sergio Aguero.
Only one player won possession in the final third more than Jesus in the Brasileirao last season, so we can perhaps expect him to demonstrate similar characteristics to Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino in that sense.
There have been several compliments handed to Jesus in his fledgeling career so far, with Pele describing him as a better player than Neymar, while Romario believes the 19-year old will be Brazil’s next great No 9:
“For what he has done in a Palmeiras shirt and in a Brazil shirt, I can say that he is going to be our next great No 9. He’s a boy, he’s only starting out, but he’s already getting there and he’s a hard-working kid. For the next World Cup, if all goes well, we will be very happy with our attack.”
Jesus’ long-term future looks to be as a central striker, then, though, for now, Aguero looks set to remain as Pep’s first-choice pick to lead the line.
But as we were reminded only yesterday, when Aguero was utilised as a second-half substitute against the Clarets, Guardiola’s teamsheets have becoming increasingly frustrating to Fantasy managers and Jesus’ arrival merely adds to the worries over rotation.
Considering how well other premium forwards such as Diego Costa, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Harry Kane are performing, the possibility of Aguero losing pitch time to Jesus would be a major blow to his prospects, given that the other three have little threat to their starting places.
It’s perhaps more likely that the new arrival may be handed some opportunities in the wide positions to get more minutes under his belt.
He’ll be competing with the likes of Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne, Leroy Sane, Nolito and Jesus Navas in those roles too, though, and, as we’ve seen in Sane’s case since arriving in the summer, the City manager has a tendency to ease players into his plans.
Expected to come in around 9.5 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) and be classified as a forward, there’s a chance that Jesus could be handed his debut against West Ham United in the FA Cup on Friday, allowing us an early scouting opportunity.
Certainly, considering his incredible performances for Brazil, there’s little doubt that City look to have a real gem on their hands.
Yet it remains to be seen how many opportunities Guardiola will hand the 19-year-old in his first few months on these shores, and it may not be until 2017/18 before he becomes a key player in Pep’s first-team plans.
