Why Gabriel Jesus Could Leave Manchester City this Summer

Reports have emerged that Gabriel Jesus' representatives are speaking with Arsenal regarding a move to the London club in the summer. The Brazilian number 9 is understood to be seeking regular playing time which he has not been given at Manchester City.

Brought in as a striker back in 2017, the 25-year-old spent several years under the shadow of Sergio Aguero. It was supposed to be the perfect environment for him to learn and grow while watching and playing alongside the City legend.

But that did not materialise as he has not been able to step up to be the top striker that the club needs. Hence, there has been much talk of how City play without a striker even when Jesus has been in the team. He was recently shifted to the right side of attack by the manager to play as a winger.

Although the excuse given is that he prefers to play on the wings, he was not brought in as a winger. He is the only recognised striker in the team at the moment. Yet, he rarely plays in the position.

In fact, Pep Guardiola rarely starts him in games. That has led to calls from his compatriots and media houses back home that he should leave the Etihad Stadium to find regular playing time in order to perform for his country.

The forward seems to be heeding those calls now as he senses a perfect opportunity to make a move. Despite signing Argentine hot shot Julian Alvarez, who will be arriving in the summer, City are still in hot pursuit of a top-class striker. It’s been widely reported that Norwegian sensation Erling Haaland could be the chosen one.

His arrival in the summer will diminish Jesus’ chances further. With regular playing time hard to come by at the moment, the arrival of Haaland could mean relegation to the bench all together.

The Brazilian forward may be trying to take a proactive decision now to secure his future.

With just a year left on his contract with City by the end of the season, the club will find it difficult holding on to him beyond the summer.

Besides Pep Guardiola has a now-famous policy of keeping the door open for any player who expresses a desire to leave. That will make it easy for the Brazilian to make his exit from the club.

With the rumours is building up increasingly about the likelihood of his exit, he was questioned after the Watford game about his future. But he chose to give nothing away by expressing his desire to finish the season well at the club.

That’s understandable, but the conditions seem to be pointing in one direction; that he may leave the club this summer.

He certainly doesn’t want to play the number two role behind the main striker all over again. It’s clear that the club is determined to bring in a striker in the summer having failed to sign Harry Kane last time out.

With Alvarez now available to provide backup to the main striker, the club’s executives may sanction a deal in the interest of all parties involved.

Jesus will move to a club where he can play regularly. City get a sizeable amount rather than lose the player for free a year later. Having been strongly linked with the player, Arsenal would get a good player who can feature across the front line.

With Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang already gone to Barcelona and Aleksandre Lacazette set to leave for free in the summer, there’s enough room for Jesus to come in and become the main man at the Emirates Stadium.

So fingers crossed, there is a strong possibility that Gabriel Jesus will not be a Manchester City player by the end of the summer.

However, that may be subject to City’s recruitment in the summer. If the deal for a top striker falls through, the club may rethink it’s strategy and decide to hand Jesus a contract extension. But with each passing day, that’s beginning to look more and more like the unlikely outcome at the end of the summer.