City’s ‘New Ronaldo’ Jesus will only get better says Alves
DANI ALVES has warned England they will be facing “the new Ronaldo” at Wembley tonight.
Gabriel Jesus has set the Premier League alight since joining Manchester City from Palmeiras in January, scoring 14 goals in 20 games.
And Paris Saint-Germain full-back Alves believes that the 20-year-old can now be measured against the best.
Jesus is set to lead the line for a full-strength Brazil team at Wembley tonight, looking to score his eighth goal in 13 games for the revitalised five-times World Cup winners, who hit a low when they were thrashed 7-1 by Germany in the semi-finals of their home World Cup in 2014.
Alves said: “I wasn’t joking when I called Gabriel the new Ronaldo. They have a similar drive. He’s already great and will get even better. For all that he has done, all that he has achieved, there is no pressure on Jesus. He is doing what he loves.”
Brazil coach Tite, who has transformed Brazil’s fortunes after taking over from Dunga in June last year, said: “Manchester City should be very pleased with Palmeiras and the coaches there, who formed a player who is already at such a good level. He came to England with natural fluency. He has great mental capacity and technical ability.
“He didn’t need much time to adapt to English football, he was already playing at a very good level.
“But Gabriel, like any player, can only shine when he has a decent team around him. That is what we will be trying to do.”
Jesus’s seventh goal for Brazil came in their 3-1 win over Japan on Friday. Former Barcelona, Inter Milan and
Real Madrid star Ronaldo, three times world player of the year, won two World Cups with Brazil in 1994 and 2002 and scored 62 goals in 98 games for his country.
Tite, 56, whose side were the first team to qualify for the World Cup in Russia next year, said: “England have a new generation of players coming through. Even though Gareth Southgate has only had 13 games so far, they have players like Dele Alli and Harry Kane, and experience with Gary Cahill.
“They are a very technical team with a physical presence.
“I see them as one of the favourites for the World Cup.”
Jesus’s strike partner Neymar, whose signing for Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona in August made him the world’s most expensive player, picked up an ankle knock in training last night but is expected to feature at Wembley tonight.