Sky Sports pundit Kevin Campbell believes that Manchester City will allow Gabriel Jesus to leave the club this summer, despite his recent impressive displays.
The Lowdown: Contact with Arsenal
The Brazilian, who first joined the Premier League giants in a £27m move from Palmeiras in 2016, has one year remaining on his current contract and has been in scintillating form of late, most recently getting his name on the scoresheet in the Citizens’ comfortable 4-0 victory against Leeds United.
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Despite this, The Athletic claimed just last month that Arsenal’s technical director, Edu, has been in talks with the 25-year-old’s representatives over a potential move to the Emirates at the end of the season, and the former Gunners striker has backed the club to sanction Jesus’ exit.
The Latest: Back-up option
When asked for his thoughts on the future of the 54-time international, Campbell told Football Insider: “Listen, Man City know the player and they know the value of who they’ve got.
“If they get Erling Haaland in though, he will be a starter. He will not be coming to mess around. He will be starting every game. That would then restrict the game time of Jesus.
“Jesus has been a good servant to Man City and he is proving that right now. But I think they will do the honourable thing and let him go. He will start somewhere else. At Arsenal he would start.
“There is no way he is going to sign a new deal if Haaland comes in because he won’t be starting. I think they will let Jesus go this summer to recoup some money.”
The Verdict: Game time needed
Jesus has been a brilliant servant for the Manchester outfit, making an outstanding 141 goal contributions in just 232 appearances during his time at the club, but as Campbell said, he wouldn’t get a look in if the Dortmund striker did end up putting pen to paper at the Etihad.
The Norwegian has been prolific in the final third in the Bundesliga this term, scoring 21 goals and registering eight assists in 22 outings, as per Transfermarkt.
The £45m-rated Jesus, who has been described as a “superstar” player by BT Sport pundit Steve McManaman, will need to look elsewhere at the end of the campaign if he desires the game time he deserves moving forward, and with the future of Alexandre Lacazette unknown, a surprising move to north London could well be on the cards for Jesus in the coming months.
In other news… a journalist has dropped a big claim on one of Man City’s summer targets.