Teammates for club and country?

Gabriel Jesus is currently on international duty with Brazil, as they toured the Far East with friendly fixtures against South Korea and Japan in the past days.

The Manchester City forward came off the bench on the 78th minute to put the icing on a well-baked cake as Brazil smashed South Korea 5-1 in Seoul. Everton maverick, Richarlison, opened the scoring for the visitors but they were pegged back by their hosts with an equalizer from Ui-Jo Hwang. However, two Neymar penalties and a Phillippe Coutinho settled the contest before Gabriel Jesus scored the final goal of the night, taking his national tally to 19 goals in 56 apps. The second friendly against Japan which took place two days ago, with Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli coming on as substitutes in the 63rd minute for Vinicius Junior and Raphinha. Neymar scored what proved to be the match winner from 12 yards via a spot kick.

Brazil had a match scheduled against their fierce rivals, Argentina, to be played in the MCG Arena in Melbourne, Australia, but the game has been cancelled. This will be the last international fixture the Selecao will play before locking horns with Serbia in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which ultimately means that Gabriel Jesus and his representatives will need to sort out his future ahead of the start of the 2022/23 Premier League campaign.

With the imminent arrival of superstar forward, Erling Braut Haaland, as well as the return of Julian Alvarez following a successful loan spell at River Plate that saw him score 15 goals in 19 games for the Argentine outfit, the chances of Gabriel Jesus featuring consistently for the Cityzens next season are slim to none. Even when the club didn’t have a recognized forward in their lineup last season after the failed pursuit for Harry Kane, Gabriel Jesus was on the periphery and managed a handful of appearances.

With the forward having only one year left on his contract, Man City is looking to sell the forward to the highest bidder and have placed a price tag of €50m on the forward. (according to Marca). That’s the modern day value for thirty pieces of silver. While Arsenal has identified Gabriel Jesus as a prime target to replace Alexandre Lacazette this summer, emerging reports have been published that the striker has been offered to Real Madrid, which could potentially put a dent in Arsenal’s hopes of securing the forward if the Spanish juggernaut are genuinely interested in his services. 

With Karim Benzema’s imperial form, Gabriel Jesus will have to make do with a place on the bench at Santiago Bernabeu, but age is on his side, and he’d probably be the heir apparent to the attacking throne at Madrid, as well as providing adequate attacking backup when required. At Arsenal, Gabriel Jesus will be the alpha male in attack, with the likes of Eddie Nketiah and Flo Balogun providing backup options. It is believed that Arsenal hopes to negotiate the price Man City has placed on the striker, and we will monitor the progress in the coming days.

Sayonara

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