Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus should choose Arsenal over Tottenham because he is ‘better suited’ to the Gunners than their north London rivals.
That is the opinion of former Liverpool and England winger John Barnes, who believes Jesus should join Arsenal despite the lack of Champions League at the Emirates.
Arsenal challenged for a top-four spot for much of the 2021-22 campaign but narrowly fell short as Antonio Conte’s Spurs finished two points above them in fourth.
The fear at Arsenal is that the Champions League blow will affect their summer transfer plans as Mikel Arteta looks to strengthen his squad and in particular sign a new striker and central midfielder.
Arteta has made Brazilian striker Jesus one of his top targets for the upcoming transfer window but reports say Tottenham are ready to battle the Gunners for his signature.
Jesus, 25, has scored 95 goals in 236 appearances for Manchester City and 18 goals for Brazil.
While he is comfortable at the Etihad, he would relish the chance to be the focal point in a team, something that will not be happening at City after Pep Guardiola welcomed Norwegian superstar Erling Haaland to his squad.
Asked about Jesus’ future, Barnes told BonusCodeBets: ‘Gabriel Jesus could suit either Tottenham Hotspur or Arsenal. Both have good managers and are good clubs.
‘From a club perspective, Arsenal are more in need of a centre forward than Spurs when you look at the fact that they still have Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.
‘But this is modern football; in the old days if a club wanted you, you’d move there, there wasn’t an auction like it is today with other clubs. A player went to the club that came in for them, without a deal being highjacked.
‘From Jesus’s point of view, he also has to ask himself with Kane and Son if he’d be playing regularly in the same position, which he won’t. Arsenal need Jesus more and he’ll be better suited there.’
Jesus scored 13 goals and made nine assists in 41 appearances last season as Manchester City won the Premier League and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League and FA Cup.
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