Officially, Gabriel Jesus became a Manchester City player in August. In reality, his time at the Etihad Stadium begins now. He has arrived in England. His debut could come as soon as Friday at West Ham.
City have had five months of anticipation, their expectation enhanced with every compliment that has come the 19-year-old’s prodigious ways. This week, his former coach Jose Francisco Mamede said Gabriel Jesus could win the Ballon d’Or within three years.
It seemed an outlandish statement, but his progress has been swift and auspicious. City bought him as a prodigy. Since then, he has become Brazil’s premier attacker, prospering despite the pressure of wearing perhaps the second most famous shirt in the Selecao’s history. He has been praised by Brazil’s most celebrated No. 10.
“He is going to be our next great No. 9,” said Pele. The only three-time World Cup winner believes Gabriel Jesus, who has mustered five goals in six starts is now Brazil’s most important player. The country’s strikers in the 2014 World Cup, Jo and Fred, were laughing stocks. They did not get a goal from a forward in their Copa America embarrassment in June. Hence, perhaps, the suggestion that the “new Neymar” has displaced the original in significance.
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Brazil’s finest No 9 went further than their greatest player. “I look at Gabriel and see myself in the past,” said the 2002 World Cup winner Ronaldo. “I see similarities; him being so young but already having achieved so much and having so much responsibility. He’s got a fantastic future ahead of him and he’s already enchanting us with what he’s doing.”
If that indicates he is an out-and-out striker, Gabriel Jesus’s preference is to play as a left winger, cutting in to use his favoured right foot. It suggests he could part of a feared forward trident for City, alongside Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling.
He will form part of another trinity. Guardiola believes his fellow Brazilians Fernando and Fernandinho will help Gabriel Jesus settle in. The two midfielders went out for a meal with the teenager and the manager when the forward visited Manchester last month.
Senior citizens have a part to play in enabling Gabriel Jesus to adjust to a new reality. It is only 22 months since he made his first-team debut for Palmeiras. In the meantime, he has been voted the best newcomer in the Brazilian league, played in the Under-20 World Cup final, won an Olympic gold medal, made his debut for Brazil’s senior side, attracted attention from Barcelona and completed a £27 million (Dh122.5m) move to City.
Guardiola formed part of the appeal to the youngster. “He’s a technician who likes Brazilians,” said Gabriel Jesus. “He gave me a plan. Since he first called me, our contact has been very good.” If Guardiola is indelibly associated with passers and Gabriel Jesus seems a player in the truest Brazilian traditions, an individualist with flicks and tricks and solo rungs that seem to acquire an unstoppable momentum, a common denominator is a love of the game.
“Sometimes I’d play as many as three or four matches a day: I couldn’t get enough of it,” Gabriel Jesus said of his youth. “It’d get to the point when my muscles would cramp up. It’s football. I can’t put my mind to anything else. I’m not interested in hanging out or partying.
“For me, it’s all about the pitch: training, playing. Even when I go home it’s football the whole time. I think I’m obsessed.”
It is a beautiful obsession Guardiola shares. Devotion allied with extreme talent tends to be a recipe for brilliance. City will certainly hope it is.
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