Chelsea have made contact over a potential move to try to beat rivals Arsenal to the transfer of Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus.
The Brazil international’s situation should become clearer in the next few days, with Chelsea and Arsenal among five clubs in the race for his signature, according to CaughtOffside columnist Fabrizio Romano.
Jesus’ future has been the subject of much speculation for some time, and Romano now has a further update in the latest edition of his exclusive CaughtOffside column, which will be out in full later this morning.
“There are five clubs that have contacted Gabriel Jesus’ agents, not just Arsenal,” Romano explains. “Chelsea have had contacts in recent weeks.”
There seems to be little doubt that Jesus will be on his way out of the Etihad Stadium, but Arsenal are certainly being made to sweat here over one of their top targets.
Romano adds: “Gabriel will leave Manchester City – 100%, and Arsenal want him at all costs as priority striker, Manchester City are asking about €50-55m for the Brazilian: in the coming days the situation will be clearer.”
Should Gabriel Jesus pick Chelsea transfer over Arsenal?
It will be interesting to see what decision Jesus comes to in the coming days, but from the outside it seems a no-brainer to head to Stamford Bridge over the Emirates Stadium.
One imagines City won’t want to sell to a title rival, but that’s precisely why Jesus should be leaning towards Chelsea – he’s shown at City that he’s good enough to be part of a side that competes for major honours, and play in the Champions League.
At Arsenal, he might have a familiar face with him in the form of ex-City coach Mikel Arteta, who will build his team around him, but it’s a bigger ask to fire the Gunners back to where they’ll feel they should be.
Jesus’ versatility and work rate also makes him look a perfect fit for Thomas Tuchel’s style of football, meaning he can succeed where Romelu Lukaku has failed.