Gabriel Jesus has revealed he feels “free” at Arsenal and admits he left Manchester City because he needed a change from Guardiola.
The 25-year-old made a £45m move to the Gunners in the summer after five years at City, where he won four Premier League medals & five other major honours.
Since moving south, Jesus has helped Arsenal to the top of the table after seven games with the forward scoring four times and grabbing three assists.
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He has already been dubbed one of the signings of the summer with Mikel Arteta deploying Jesus as his central striker and focal point – something which happened all too infrequently at City.
“The thing was the way [Guardiola] understands football and what he wanted,” Jesus told ESPN Brasil. “Then it was up to you to accept it or not. If you don’t accept it, ‘thank you’ and let’s go for another challenge.
“I accepted it for a while, but there came a moment when I said: ‘I want another thing for myself.’ I thanked him, ‘thanks for everything,’ he understood, and we moved on.
“It is different here at Arsenal. The football is different – different players, different ways to play.
“At City, it was different. The striker didn’t touch the ball that much, you see this by watching the games. And, when it was time to touch the ball, it was not the striker, because [Guardiola] ended up putting a midfielder to come closer. OK, fine. So, I decided to change.”
“I talked a lot with Arteta about Arsenal’s style,” Jesus added. “He knows me, I know him, I understood what he wanted from me. Now, I’m free on the pitch, playing football with a smile on my face and trying to do my best all the time.”
Arsenal’s biggest game of the season so far is upon them this weekend when they host Tottenham.
Antonio Conte’s men currently sit third, just two places and one point below their opponents in the table, with Man City sandwiched in between. The Gunners can now extend the gap at the top to four points, while Spurs can leapfrog Arsenal in the table with a win.
He added: “I’ve had some experience of derbies, like when I played for Palmeiras, City and Brazil. So, I know what a derby is, but I never played one Arsenal versus Tottenham here. So, it will be my first and I hopefully to get the win, not only in my first but all the derbies that I will play.”
