Chelsea and Arsenal have been competing for different targets in the last few years, with the Gunners scrapping around in the lower tier of European competition.
But this summer sees both teams lining up to take a run at Gabriel Jesus, the Manchester City striker who wants a new Premier League team which will start him every week.
The Blues are in need of a forward, but their entire strategy is contingent on being able to shift Romelu Lukaku. They’re working on that now, but it gives Arsenal the advantage early on.
Arsenal make bid for £50m-rated Gabriel Jesus from Manchester Cityhttps://t.co/c4IzKpwkA4
— Gary Jacob (@garyjacob) June 16, 2022
Mikel Arteta’s team are clearly keen to use it – according to Gary Jacob of the Times, they’ve just submitted a £50m bid for the Brazil international.
We’re still confident he would come to Stamford Bridge and the Champions League if given the chance – but we will have to move quickly and decisively to match this significant Arsenal assault.
Where Jesus signs will probably depend on the two usual things; money and money.
Winning trophies is what players always claim motivates them, but in nearly every case, a player leaves one team for another for one of three reasons; he is not wanted, he is not playing, he can make more money elsewhere. If trophies were what motivated players, everyone would sign with Celtic and win the Scottish Premiership every year, or Ajax and win the Eredivisie (nearly) every year. They do not.
in Jesus’ case, he is on very reasonable wages at Man City, so he will make more at either Arsenal or Chelsea. A year ago, it would be definite that Chelsea would pay more than Arsenal. With new owners in place, that is not as certain.
If Jesus is motivated by his career, Arsenal makes the most sense. At Tottenham, he will play wide on the right as a starter and as Harry Kane’s relief as a center forward. At Chelsea, there are four players who get minutes at Center Forward. Romelu Lukaku, Kai Haevertz, Timo Werner. Werner and Lukaku have not been dominant, but if Jesus were to falter, he would get the same short shrift Lukaku and Werner got and find himself replaced by attacking midfielder Haevertz.
At Arsenal, for better or worse, there is, quite simply, no one else. Nketiah is out of contract and available on a free transfer, Lacazette signed for Lyon, Aubameyang is lighting up Barcelona’s scoreboard. Jesus would be first, second, and third choice. If he wants trophies, Chelsea is the obvious choice of the three, if it’s money, Chelsea is probably the best choice, but for a chance to be ‘the man’ for the next five years? Only Arsenal can give him that.