Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Jesus finally completes his move to Manchester

Manchester City have now completed the paperwork to sign Brazilian starlet Gabriel Jesus

This week there was great excitement as Jesus arrived at Manchester City on Thursday, Gabriel Jesus the 19-year-old forward from Brazil that is.

I am trying very hard to avoid the puns, but I apologise now if I indulge myself in a bit of word-play.

The forward arrives at City for a reported fee of £27million from Palmeiras. He was expected to be part of the Citizens squad that faced Everton last weekend.

However, his paperwork was not complete and he could now make his debut against Tottenham on Saturday.

Exciting young talent

There will definitely be excitement about the youngster’s arrival. A deal for the forward was originally agreed in the summer. However, Jesus was allowed to remain at Palmeiras and helped his club win the title. The 19-year-old was also voted the best player in the Brazilian top-flight.

As well as his good performances for Palmeiras, he has also helped his national side to the brink of World Cup qualification. The Selecao were struggling in the South American qualification section. Brazilian boss Tite decided to select Jesus and the decision paid off. The youngster scored five goals in six qualifiers, as his team won six straight games.

Although he is technically gifted and has pace in abundance he has also been praised for his work ethic in the past. This will no doubt go down well with new boss Pep Guardiola at City. Jesus has the ability to play on either wing, as well as a central striker, which could prove very useful at City.

May need time to settle

The minority of people who are predicting that the forward will be City’s saviour need to give the youngster time to settle in Manchester. The forward is just 19-years old and is heading to a completely different environment.

The club, country and culture change will take some time to get accustomed to. Players that come straight from South America to the Premier League often struggle to adapt.

They are maybe not given the help to settle in their new surroundings so are seen as flops if they fail to impress in the Premier League. South American players who arrive from other European leagues tend to settle more quickly.

The fact that there are already Brazilian players at City will definitely help the youngster to acclimatise. His biggest challenge may be adapting to the pace of the Premier League compared to the South American game.

In Brazil, he would most likely have been allowed the space to create and run at defences. In England, he will not be afforded the same favourable conditions. Opposition teams will try and rough the youngster up as well. He needs to be ready for the mental and physical challenges of the English game.

Gabriel Jesus will certainly give City a boost

Manchester City are in need of a boost at the moment on the back of a 4-0 drubbing at Everton last weekend. Pep Guardiola’s side are now odds of 12/1 to win the Premier League title this season. What the Citizens need at this present time is for their players to stand up and be counted.

Gabriel Jesus seems to be a youngster who has a good attitude and is prepared to learn. One of the accusations of City’s players against Everton was that they were laboured. They lacked ideas on how to open up a stubborn defence.

Even at 19-years old Jesus is a player that can get fans off their seats and create excitement and opportunities. He is the sort of signing that can lift some of the recent gloom at the Etihad in recent weeks.

If coached right Jesus has a lot of the attributes to become a star player in the Premier League in the near future. City fans should not expect miracles from Jesus just yet, though, as the youngster is likely to need time to settle. Hopefully, then we will see the best of the talented young forward.

Will Gabriel Jesus be an instant success in the Premier League?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Nugent


David is a freelance football writer with nearly a decade of experience writing about the beautiful game. The experienced writer has written for over a dozen websites and also an international soccer magazine offline.
Arguably his best work has come as an editorial writer for Soccernews, sharing his good, bad and ugly opinions on the world’s favourite sport. During David’s writing career he has written editorials, betting previews, match previews, banter, news and opinion pieces.

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