Mikel Arteta has spoken of the ease in convincing Gabriel Jesus to sign for Arsenal ahead of Tottenham, before the rivals do battle again in the north London derby.
The Brazilian striker signed for the Gunners from champions Manchester City for £47million in the summer and immediately hit the ground running, scoring seven times in pre-season.
Gabriel Jesus has had a brilliant start to life at the Emirates after his move from Manchester City
Tottenham and Chelsea both expressed an interest in the striker but Arsenal swooped and landed their man in July.
Jesus has started strongly in the Premier League, with four goals and three assists in seven matches helping to fire Arsenal to the top of the table.
On the eve of the first north London derby of the season - which is LIVE on talkSPORT - Arteta revealed the simplistic role he and club technical director Edu played in convincing the 25-year-old to move to the Emirates Stadium over their local rivals.
"Edu had a talk with him to express what the project was and what the club is about," Arteta revealed in his pre-match press conference.
"He explained the role he would have at the club. I then spoke to him, so it was a team effort and he clearly understood what we wanted to do.
"The relationship we had with with him [Edu was general coordinator of the Brazil national team from 2016-2019, while Arteta was a coach at Man City] helped because there is that trust and connection already.
Mikel Arteta was delighted to get his man in new striker Gabriel Jesus
"Then it's completely up to the player to decide."
Asked if Arsenal were convinced they would sign the Brazilian over the competition after those discussions, Arteta added: "We were really hopeful.
"His immediate reaction was really positive, but after that there are other steps that have to go in the right direction to finalise and get a player to sign for the club.
"But, to be fair, Gabi made it pretty easy for us."
Jesus will get his first taste of a north London derby on Saturday lunchtime and has a point to prove after being left out of the Brazil squad for their recent friendlies against Ghana and Tunisia.
The man who filled the position is the forward Tottenham signed instead, Richarlison, and the pair will go head-to-head at the Emirates on the back of the former Everton man netting three goals during the international break.
Defender Gabriel Magalhaes and forward Gabriel Martinelli were also omitted by Brazil coach Tite, and Arteta had words of support for his Brazilian stars.
He said: "I understand how they are feeling how it has hit them and how can we help them. They just have to put their head down and take it on the chin, try and play at the level he's been playing at to make it even harder to leave him out."
Richarlison's current form has put him above Gabriel Jesus in the race for a World Cup spot
Meanwhile, Jesus has revealed that the Saturday's game is all his teammates have been talking about with the striker eager to sample his first derby showdown.
"All the players are talking about the derby. It's all about the derby. You're going to see what a derby is. Derby, derby," said Jesus.
"I've had some experience of derbies, like when I played for Palmeiras, City and Brazil.
"I know what a derby is, but I never played one Arsenal versus Tottenham here. So, it will be my first and I hope to get the win, not only in my first but all the derbies that I will play."
Tune into talkSPORT for LIVE and EXCLUSIVE commentary of Arsenal vs Tottenham in the Premier League, Saturday October 1, Kick-off: 12:30pm
No comments:
Post a Comment