CITY ’ S ANGEL GABRIEL
Pep believes in Jesus
Fwolwloww. Tew. eurk: @peoplesport MANCHESTER CITY believe that teenage wonder Gabriel Jesus has the potential to become the best player in the world.
The Brazil striker will arrive at the Etihad in the new year after they gave him permission to remain with Palmeiras for six months after City sealed a £27million deal for his services in the summer.
Pep Guardiola hopes that Jesus will bolster City’s bid for the Premier League and Champions League.
But the feeling at the club is that the Blues have landed a talent capable of becoming City’s first global superstar, in the mould of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Jesus, 19, has already scored four goals in six appearances for Brazil.
And a City insider claimed: “This club has signed some world-class players from all around the globe over the last six or seven years, but Gabriel has the potential to be the best of the lot.
“The buzz around the kid is absolutely unique. There was a lot of excitement when players like Robinho, Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Yaya Toure came to the club.
“But the belief is that Gabriel is capable of taking City to another level. The scale of his improvement, even in the six months he was allowed to stay with Palmeiras, has been absolutely remarkable.”
City identified Jesus as a worldbeater when he scored 37 goals in just 22 games for Palmeiras’ Under-17s, two years ago.
They faced competition from Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus, Paris Saint- Germain, Inter Milan and Manchester United, when Palmeiras made it clear they were open to offers.
And one of Guardiola’s first tasks when he agreed to become City boss was to make a personal plea to Jesus to join him in Manchester.
The forward was allowed to stay with his Brazilian club, helping Palmeiras to win their first title in 22 years.
But he visited Manchester earlier this month and Guardiola (below) is ready to plunge him straight into the Premier League cauldron.
City also agreed to pay Palmeiras a huge package of bonuses, should he be a success.
One of the clauses in the deal includes a seven-figure payment, should he even be nominated by FIFA in the World Player of the Year awards, which have been dominated by Messi and Ronaldo.
City went into the season with just Aguero and Kelechi Iheanacho as recognised strikers – but now Jesus will be expected to add some firepower to Guardiola’s armoury.
The City chief has been using Toure to help him get his philosophy across to his squad after bringing the Ivory Coast midfielder back in from the cold, following a war of words with the player’s agent.
The sheer bulk of information he has been trying to convey to his players has led to some confusion.
And Guardiola felt he needed to call on the experience of Toure after they worked together at Barcelona.
It was Guardiola’s assurances that he would be brought back into the team that prompted Toure to issue an apology to his manager and club for any “misunderstanding”. An assistant who coaches tackling, a couple of centre-backs who can defend and a goalkeeper who can remember what it’s like to make a save Group ticket for Mazzarri and his squad for the prestigious Berlitz language school