Jesus reveals a 'crazy' call that made him quit north for south

THERE was an element of shock when Gabriel Jesus left City in 2022, but in his mind it had been coming for a few months.

- JOE BRAY

There were just 25 days between Erling Haaland signing and Jesus’ exit for Arsenal. While Haaland’s arrival was the final nail in the coffin for Jesus, this was a decision already in the pipeline.

In fact, Jesus had decided to seek a new challenge the season prior, long before Haaland’s signature was in the bag. And the breaking point was a team selection call that left Jesus in tears and on the phone to family back in Brazil.

Ironically, Jesus had spent years trying to become City’s main central striker amid stiff competition from Sergio Aguero. Yet when Aguero left, Jesus declared an ambition to play more on the wing, leaving City without a recognised striker before Haaland’s arrival.

Still, Jesus was deployed as a false nine on plenty of occasions and Guardiola gave a telling insight into his approach to utilising the Brazilian when he said: “He’s the best striker/defender I ever found to play in the three positions. [He] can play five minutes, he plays the best five minutes of his life. He plays 90 minutes, he will give everything.”

That versatility and option-off the-bench proved to be the downfall of Jesus’ City career, as the forward recalled a ‘crazy’ decision that prompted him to think about leaving.

“There was a Champions League game, PSG, at home, in which he put [Aleks] Zinchenko as a false nine. Crazy thing,” Jesus said in 2023.