London rivals ‘confident’ of beating Chelsea to Brazilian star in last year of contract

Transfer News: Arsenal convinced about beating Chelsea to sign Manchester City star Gabriel Jesus

According to The Times (Subscription Required), Arsenal are edging closer to finalising a move for Manchester City attacker Gabriel Jesus this summer transfer window.

As per Metro, Arsenal are convinced that they are set to reach an agreement with Man City for Jesus, beating off competition from Chelsea in the process.

Jesus’s future at Etihad has been surrounded by uncertain waters, with his contract in line to enter the last 12 months before expiry. As such, the Citizens have offered his services to Tottenham Hotspur in an attempt to get the most out of a potential sale this summer.

However, the Gunners seem to be leading the race, with the Brazilian wanting to move to Emirates because of Mikel Arteta. That appears to have made them confident about winning the race ahead of the Blues, who are also pursuing Jesus alongside Real Madrid at this moment.

Transfer News: Arsenal convinced about beating Chelsea to sign Man City star Gabriel Jesus. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Gabriel Jesus wants to join Arsenal this summer. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Chelsea dealt transfer blow?

It is pretty clear right now how attacking additions have also become a necessity, following just behind the need to reinforce the defence. After all, Romelu Lukaku is looking likely to return to Inter Milan, while Thomas Tuchel is also open to receiving proposals for Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic right now.

Should these potential exits take place, we would be left with very few options in the attacking department ahead of the upcoming campaign. Jesus, who excels in playing across all positions in the frontline, would have perfectly suited us in such a case, but it seems like he is nearing a move to Mikel Arteta’s side this summer.

That is quite concerning as our direct rivals would see their squad improve with the 25-year-old’s signing. It is now claimed that the North London side are willing to table an offer closer to the Premier League champions’ valuation of about £50million for his signature.

Gabriel Jesus is also a target for Chelsea and Real Madrid. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Gabriel Jesus is also a target for Chelsea and Real Madrid. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

While losing the South American is a damning blow to our ambitions of improving the team, it is not the end of the road for us. After all, we have other options like Raheem Sterling from Pep Guardiola’s side, RB Leipzig’s Christopher Nkunku and finally, Ousmane Dembele of Barcelona, who is in line to become a free agent this summer.

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We still have other targets to pursue as of now but losing one among the shortlist greatly reduces our chances of securing a reinforcement. After all, nothing is guaranteed so far, which means that having more choices would be beneficial in the long run.

Whether there will be any fresh twists in this pursuit to sign Jesus or not will only be known in due time.