Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson believes Manchester City should be looking to keep Gabriel Jesus at the Etihad this summer.
Despite his former club Arsenal reportedly lining up a £35m offer for the Brazilian international, Merson feels that the forward should be happy with his playing time at the Citizens:
“Gabriel Jesus should stay at Manchester City. There’s speculation about his future and people think he’s unhappy he doesn’t play enough – but he’s started 17 Premier League games this season.”
“I think that’s a lot. He’s played 36 times for City this season. And started a lot of big, big games. Where is he going to go where he can do any better than that? Even if City sign Erling Haaland, he shouldn’t leave. No way. This is a team that is going to go deep in four competitions every year and he will always get games.”
“Pep Guardiola trusts him. He misses a lot of chances but you can play him anywhere in the forward line and he always keeps trying to get in there. He still has a big role to play this season. I don’t think Haaland would play a huge amount more than that if he goes there.”
City do have a policy of selling unhappy players. They reluctantly allowed Ferran Torres to leave for Barcelona during the January transfer window, and it appears they are now open to letting Jesus go.
With the 25-year-old closing in on the final year of his contract, and no new deal on the horizon, it does look almost certain that the striker will be sold at this point.
If reports are to be believed, Jesus’s agent has been in talks with Arsenal for six months and, if he does already have his heart set on moving clubs, it seems unlikely that City will try and persuade him to stay.
