There’s often several reasons behind a player’s departure from a club. Sometimes, it’s as simple as wanting to play at a higher level, and other times it can be that they are no longer performing at their peak. Occasionally, things can get ugly, however – see Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United departure the second time around.Things can get slightly out of hand in the transfer season when a player wants to leave. We’ve seen some banished to train with the U23s, others take matters into their own hands by driving to another club’s training ground – shout-out to Peter Odemwingie – and all sorts of other drama unfold.Gabriel Jesus has gone about things fairly smarter, though. Instead of letting the tensions boil over while at Manchester City, he has waited an entire season at Arsenal, and a highly-competitive title race, before finally speaking out about his exit.
Why did Gabriel Jesus leave Manchester City?
Speaking on The Denilson Show Podcast, Jesus said, via ESPN: “There was a Champions League game, PSG, at home in which he put Zinchenko as a false 9. Crazy thing. The day before, he didn’t even use him in training, he had put me in as a striker.. Zinchenko even joked with me: ‘That day I felt bad or you’.
“Two hours before the game, there’s a team talk, the team eats, rests for 30 minutes and goes to the game… I didn’t even eat. I went straight to the room, crying, I called my mother to talk: ‘I want to leave’. I’m going home, because he put (Zinchenko) on. He put a left-back there. I went crazy.
“I didn’t warm up. I felt bad. Five minutes after Mbappe scored the goal for 1-0, [Guardiola] called me. I gave an assist and scored; we turned it around 2-1. In the next [Champions League] game [a 2-1 win at RB Leipzig], I thought I was going to play, and I didn’t play.
“There was a lot of that with him [Guardiola], and it’s not easy. But one [player] evolves. It is really hard. That’s when I decided, I didn’t want to stay anymore. And I decided to leave.”
How did Gabriel Jesus perform for Arsenal last season?
Despite never really being the main man at Manchester City, Jesus played a crucial role for Arsenal last season, who pushed Guardiola’s side all the way in the Premier League title race.
Suffering a poorly-timed injury at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, the 26-year-old Brazilian’s season was interrupted. This didn’t stop him from finishing on 11 goals and eight assists in all competitions to cap off an impressive debut campaign at The Emirates.
Playing with former Ciry teammate Oleksandr Zinchenko in North London, Jesus at least doesn’t have to worry about losing his place to the left-back under Mikel Arteta, with his spot in the manager’s plans more than secured (playing 33 times in total despite his major injury).
The hope will be that the Gunners can go one better next season, and win the Premier League title, whilst also making an impact in their return to Champions League action.
And for the time being, when it comes to leading the line, Jesus appears to be the undisputed main man for Arsenal.