A former Manchester City star has recounted a deeply emotional moment with Pep Guardiola that ultimately led to his departure from the club. Gabriel Jesus, now an Arsenal forward, revealed that being dropped for a crucial Champions League fixture against Paris Saint-Germain in November 2021 left him in tears and desperate to leave City.
The Brazilian striker, who clinched the Premier League title with Arsenal this week, had joined City from Palmeiras in January 2017. During his stint under Guardiola, he won four league titles but often had to adapt his role, competing with Sergio Aguero for the striker position. In his final season, Jesus played out wide as Guardiola employed a false-nine system. However, the manager's decision to use left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko as a false nine for the PSG match devastated Jesus.
“There was a Champions League game, PSG, at home, in which he put Zinchenko as a false nine. Crazy thing,” Jesus recalled on the Denilson Show in 2023. “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 for you.' Two hours before the game there's a team talk. The team eats, rests for 30 minutes and goes to the game. He told us the team... 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 him (Zinchenko) on, and he didn't put me on. He put a left-back there. I went crazy.”
Despite his frustration, Jesus made an impact when he came on, scoring the winning goal in a 2-1 comeback. Yet he remained sidelined for the next Champions League game, which solidified his decision to leave. The lack of consistent playing time, not Erling Haaland's subsequent signing, prompted his transfer to Arsenal in 2022.
Jesus quickly formed a strong partnership with Mikel Arteta, having previously worked with him at City. “I talked a lot with Arteta about the style of play,” Jesus told ESPN in September 2022. “He knows me, I know him, I understood what he wanted from me. Now, I'm free on the field, playing ball with a smile on my face and trying to do my best always.”
Injuries have limited Jesus to just 13 league appearances during Arsenal's title-winning campaign. City's draw with Bournemouth handed the trophy to their rivals, meaning Guardiola will end his final season at the helm with a domestic double in the FA Cup and League Cup.
