Stan Collymore has urged Gabriel Jesus to snub a move to Arsenal, claiming he would be much better suited to Chelsea.
The Gunners are believed to have made the Brazilian forward their priority target this summer as they look to replace Alexandre Lacazette, who is set to return to his former club Lyon when his contract in north London comes to an end later this month.
While we are being linked with a number of options this summer, it is Jesus who appears to have become the focal point of our attention, with his role at the Etihad having come into question following the signings of both Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland, and an exit appears firmly on the cards for him.
Whether we can persuade him that the Emirates is the ideal place for him to play next season remains to be seen, but Collymore questions whether Mikel Arteta is the right man to help him reach his potential moving forwards.
The former Liverpool star told the Mirror: “I don’t think anyone can say Jesus has filled the boots of Sergio Aguero but his goals-to-games ratio has been very good and, when he has been asked to step up, he has done. There are rumours of Chelsea sniffing around as well and I don’t think Arsenal will be the only club in the race for him this summer.
“But let’s say Arsenal get him, my general worry and concern about Arsenal, as ever, is could we trust Mikel Arteta to get the best out of Jesus, could he be the manager who makes him fulfil his potential, if Pep Guardiola couldn’t? I don’t think so.
“But if he goes to Chelsea he could be the player Romelu Lukaku was promised to be but wasn’t. At Chelsea, they create loads of chances, they will stick the ball in the box and Jesus can be the fox in the box I’ve so often said they need. If Jesus just concentrated on doing some really good work in the box, he could be that man.
“At Arsenal, with the support cast they have, which is still two rookies in Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka — and we don’t know for sure that they will still be wearing Gunners shirts in two years’ time, with Saka being linked with Liverpool and City — if I was Jesus I would be thinking of myself in the blue shirt at Stamford Bridge.
“I’d be thinking that Mason Mount, Kai Havertz and, if he stays, Timo Werner would be putting it on a plate for me and I’d be getting my 25 goals as a regular starter next season. What he’s not going to do is fire Arsenal into the Champions League next season because it’s not just a case of them needing a finisher.
“They need to buy in players who have belief in the project and yet I don’t even see any of their big-name rookies putting out any signs that they have a massive belief Arsenal are going to get to the Champions League this time next year.
“So if you’re Jesus, signed as The Man , which puts a lot of additional pressure on you as well, then why go there when you could go to the Emirates when you could go to Stamford Bridge and be at a place where you’re much more of a natural fit. With that in mind, my advice is, ‘Go to London, Gabriel, but go to the blue side, not the red.”
I don’t recall Collymore ever having anything positive to say about Arsenal, so I take everything he says with a pinch of salt. He clearly despises us and doesn’t want to believe there could be anything positive in our favour. While you could claim that playing for Chelsea will bring ample opportunities, when was the last time they created or kept a prolific goalscorer in top form.
Am I alone in thinking that it would be more of a risk to try and lead Chelsea’s line than ours?
Patrick
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I doubt Jesus is even vaguely concerned. He can hang around the best team in the world at City winning league titles for fun and playing CL semi finals every season on 100k p/w. Or he can go live in London getting paid 200k p/w at either red or blue where there is no serious expectation of winning the title. Where ever he ends up he is living the dream with a guaranteed 40 million salary whether he scores any goals or not.
FF, How aptly you sum of the sheer obscenity of ALL Prem players wages. Unless anduntill something makes asea change in this obscenity of player wages we ordinary but decent fans will continue to be mugged off by players and their ghastly agents.
Sob!!
Football teams wax and wane and never stay at the top forever.
Unless you are in possession of a crystal ball there is no reason to say he cannot win titles at Arsenal. Chelsea are no stronger than us financially and neither is Liverpool. The only difference is this close season they have a stronger attraction for the top players as they are in the CL.
We need to wait and see what happens – personally I would rather see someone come through the ranks than sign someone like Jesus – but that’s just my opinion.
LOL!!!
The fact that Lukaku flopped under Tuchel undermines his point. Managers are constantly blamed for “not getting the best out of players” but they are just one relatively small variable.
Honestly not fussed. IMO he isn’t the forward we need for Artetaball.😢