Jesus happy with his game again and young City star puts it all down to advice from his family

Bro. Keep going.” Gabriel’s return to form has coincided with a visit to Manchester from his mum, Vera Lucia.

And he has no problem with being known as a mummy’s boy.

Jesus said: “I am still just 21 years old and my career was just going up when I was back home in Brazil.

“Coming to City has made me think that when you keep trying to get better it doesn’t always work out that way. That’s not just in football, but in life.

“It was hard going to the World Cup as the first striker and not scoring a goal and it has been a tough season.

“But I am happy with my game again. My family helped me. They are so important to keep me going. We all need to have a close family.

“Their advice wasn’t just about my football, but about my life.

“Sometimes you go up, sometimes you go down. But it is how you cope with it all that matters.

“OK, sometimes I won’t always score, but working hard for my team still makes me feel happy.”

City lost two Premier League games over the festive period to slip 10 points behind Liverpool in the title race. But wins over Southampton and Jurgen Klopp’s pacesetters has been followed by FA Cup and Carabao Cup victories over Rotherham and Burton that saw 16 City unanswered goals.

Jesus revealed that Guardiola got his players together to turn City’s fortunes around. He said: “We always have team meetings – and it doesn’t matter if we win or lose with Pep. That’s good, because we always know what we have to do on the pitch and in training sessions.

“When you lose games like we did it is more difficult but you kick on again. Pep always has meetings. He has them before the game, after the game, and even during the game.”