Gabriel Jesus to Arsenal is arguably the most intriguing transfer of the summer yet from a Dream Team perspective.
The Brazilian spent five and a half years with Man City, where he won eight major trophies, including four Premier League titles.
However, there is still a feeling that the judges are somewhat behind the 25-year-old, despite his record 95 goals from 236 appearances for the Citizens, due to the way he was used under Pep Guardiola.
The decorated tactician was clearly a fan of Jesus, as he paid him several notable compliments over the years, calling him the “best in the world” in regards to the defensive contribution among attackers.
And yet, to think of the Brazilian’s time at the Etihad is to think of him coming off the bench (or retiring) with 25 minutes to go.
Can Jesus solve Arsenal’s number 9 problem?
Rotation is an inevitable part of life for City’s star-studded team, but Jesus was more subject to the shaken pack than most.
In five full seasons, the most league starts he got were 22 in 2020/21 – 57.9% of the maximum.
Even when injury problems and Sergio Aguero’s departure left a huge gap in City’s form, Jesus couldn’t hold onto the role of centre-forward for long.
Instead, Guardiola favored a semi-strikerless system with the likes of Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling all taking turns taking the lead as a ‘false 9’.
Jesus was previously hailed as a natural striker in Brazil but ended his City career as a right winger – a change that effectively resulted in some of his best form for the club.
No doubt the Emirates stalwarts will hope to reinvigorate the poacher in Jesus, while the Gunners desperately need a striker who fits their system and who is also capable of scoring 20+ goals per season.
Jesus helped Man City win four league titles in five years
On the first aspect, there should be no problem as Jesus’ aforementioned defensive ability will help Mikel Arteta implement his coordinated high press – the Spaniard, of course, knows the attacker well from his time as Guardiola’s assistant.
In terms of link-up play, Jesus is perhaps slightly worse than Alexandre Lacazette, who ticked many boxes for Arteta, but not the biggest of them all: goals.
What Arsenal fans hope their new number 9 brings, what their old ones couldn’t, is the ability to convert enough chances into goals to qualify for the Champions League.
With the likes of Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli, Emile Smith Rowe and new kid Fabio Vieira offering plenty of youthful exuberance and talent, the club is clamoring for a goalscorer to take them to the next level.
Lacazette scored just four league goals from 30 games last season, at a rate of one every 447.3 minutes – just not good enough.
Jesus averages a goal every 160.4 minutes in the Premier League, but will he be able to maintain that impressive pace in north London?
The savior overlooks his new playground
On the one hand, he will miss the unparalleled service he was blessed with at City – he has underperformed significantly against expected goals (xG) in recent years, but still boasts a solid record.
On the other hand, he will likely have the chance to get a long run of starts and enough minutes to build momentum, something he rarely got under Guardiola.
We predict that Jesus will be one of the most popular players among the Dream Team gaffers leading up to Game Week 1, which kicks off with Arsenal’s trip to Crystal Palace on August 5.
Its starting price of £5.0million is below the premium class, comparable to Darwin Nunez and £0.5million more expensive than Diogo Jota, Jamie Vardy and Wilfried Zaha.
Despite limited playing time, Jesus finished in the top ten forwards last season. Will a change of scenery help him challenge the likes of Son Heung-min and Cristiano Ronaldo in the top five?