Gabriel Jesus is about to finalize his transfer to Arsenal , after reaching an agreement on a five-year contract at the Emirates
Gabriel Jesus the Manchester City attacker will move from the Etihad to the Emirates, as Mikel Arteta signs his top center-forward target this summer,
On Friday night, the Gunners and Manchester City came to an agreement for the Brazilian to be signed for an initial fee of £45 million.
Mikel Arteta, who is looking to strengthen his attack after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left in January and Alexandre Lacazette left when his contract expired, has made Jesus his top priority this summer.
During the current transfer window, Jesus had also caught the attention of Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. He still had one year remaining on his deal with City.
To become the new center of Arsenal’s attack, he has chosen to let go of playing in the Champions League. He will make almost £190k per week, according to reports.
Jesus will be the fourth summer purchase for Arsenal. Since going to the Etihad in 2016 in a £27 million transfer from Palmeiras, Jesus has scored 58 goals in 159 Premier League games and won the league four times.
Deals have already been approved for his countryman Marquinhos, goalkeeper Matt Turner, and Portuguese midfielder Fabio Vieira.
Arteta and Gabriel Jesus had previously collaborated when Arteta served as Pep Guardiola’s assistant manager at City, and they are now back together with Jesus’ transfer to North London.
The striker was convinced to move to London now rather than wait until the end of his contract with City next summer, when he would have likely had more offers on the table, particularly from abroad,
thanks in large part to Arteta and the club’s technical director, Edu, with whom Jesus also has a relationship from his previous role with the Brazil national team.
Gabriel Jesus totaled 95 goals in 236 games for City, but even when Sergio Aguero left, he was never truly able to convince Guardiola that he should be the center of the attack.
He was about to fall farther down the food chain with the approaching arrivals of Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez.
In an effort to further strengthen Arsenal’s squad in preparation for the 2022–23 Premier League season, Arteta and Edu will now focus on Raphinha of Leeds United, his international teammate.