Chelsea made a last-minute attempt to sign Arsenal star Gabriel Jesus
While speaking with Freddie Paxton as quoted by Metro, The agent of Gabriel Jesus, Marcelo Pettinati, has claimed that Chelsea made a last-minute attempt to sign his client ahead of the move to Arsenal earlier this summer.
The Brazilian attacker left Manchester City, to join the Emirates Stadium as a marquee player for almost £45 million. However, the Blues made a last-ditch effort to compete with the Gunners in the transfer market. Jesus’ representative clarified the last-minute scenario in a statement to writer Freddie Paxton.
“Chelsea were one of the teams that tried to hijack the Arsenal move. They tried very hard in the final days to get him. By that point, we’d already chosen our new project.”
Following Manchester City’s acquisitions of Julian Alvarez from River Plate and Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund, Gabriel Jesus was one of the forwards made available on the market this summer. Chelsea tried to lure him away. But it seems the Blues failed in their pursuit at last as the Brazilian chose Arteta’s project.
This summer, Chelsea was looking for a new forward after Romelu Lukaku returned to Inter Milan on a season-long loan. The Belgium international moved to Stamford Bridge last summer for a club-record £97.5 million. However, Lukaku did not have the impact that many anticipated, finishing the 2021–22 season with only 15 goals overall.
Players like Christian Pulisic, Timo Werner, and Hakim Ziyech have all struggled to consistently display their abilities. That has left us in a difficult situation since it might be questioned if any of them deserves to continue receiving opportunities despite not taking advantage of them consistently.
On top of that, the West London side are on the verge of losing Pulisic, Werner, and Ziyech, which could free up slots for Jesus to join this summer. The latter can play wherever in the attack, which is ideal for Thomas Tuchel’s adaptable playing style.
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However, it seems his relationship with Arteta played a decisive role to convince him about a switch to the Gunners. However, his agent also mentioned Chelsea’s interest arrived towards the end. This brings us to the question: could Chelsea have landed him had we acted sooner?