Arsenal made one of the summer’s signings by bringing in Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City, but it seems he was also a real target for rivals Tottenham.
Jesus will line up for the Gunners against Spurs in this weekend’s North London Derby, but Fabrizio Romano has revealed in his exclusive CaughtOffside column that the Brazilian international could have entered this game representing the white half of North London.
Arsenal fans will be relieved to have won the Jesus signing race, and Romano says playing regularly was the key factor for the 25-year-old, who had not been a guaranteed starter for much of his time at Manchester United. City.
One imagines that surely Jesus would also have had a key role at Tottenham, but it is also true that there is more competition for the top positions in Antonio Conte’s team due to the presence of big names like Harry Kane and Son Heung-min. , while Mikel Arteta was desperate to bring in a replacement for both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.
“Tottenham were pushing for Gabriel Jesus as a concrete option earlier while negotiating for Richarlison, this is Fabio Paratici’s style of negotiating for many players at the same time,” Romano explained.
“But for Gabriel the choice was clear, as he wanted to be a regular starter, exactly what Arsenal offered him.”
Romano added that there was also some interest from Arsenal in signing Richarlison, but it was not that advanced, and the Brazilian ended up moving from Everton to Tottenham.
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“There was nothing advanced between Arsenal and Richarlison, they only asked for the conditions of the agreement, but they never had an advanced negotiation with Everton or the agents,” added Romano.
One imagines that Richarlison could have been a decent alternative to Arsenal if the Jesus deal hadn’t worked out, but overall both clubs will probably be pleased with the way it all worked out.
