Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus has recalled the time Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola reduced him to tears and made him want to leave the Etihad Stadium.
The incident occurred in the 2021/22 Champions League group stage as the Spaniard decided against playing him from the start, including Oleksandr Zinchenko in the starting line-up against Paris Saint-Germain.
It was a strange call. Jesus was Man City’s only out-and-out striker at the time, but Guardiola still nailed him to the bench to play the Ukrainian as a false nine.
Such an awkward decision left the former Palmeiras man in agony as he burst into tears and called his mother to tell her he wanted to leave the Cityzens and go home.
In a strange turn of events, Jesus entered the field off the bench and turned the match on its head, chipping in with a goal and an assist to help the Premier League colossi run out 2-1 victors.
Jesus# match-winning showing wasn’t enough to secure him a regular starting berth, as he found himself warming the substitutes bench again in the next game.
“There was a game that he [Guardiola] put Zinchenko in a false nine,” he said in the podcast ‘Denilson Show’ (via UOL).
“Do you know which game? PSG, at home, for the Champions League. Crazy stuff. The day before, he didn’t put Zinchenko to train there – I was training as a striker.
“Zinchenko even jokes with me, ‘I felt bad for you.’ Two hours before the game, he named the team.
“I didn’t even eat – I went straight to the bedroom crying. I called my mother: ‘I want to leave – I’m going home.’
“He only had me to put in, and he put in a left-back. I went crazy with him.
“It turned the game around and 0-0 [on the scoreboard]. With five minutes [of the second half], Mbappe scored a goal. He [Guardiola] called me. I came in, assisted and scored a goal. We won 2-1.
“In the other game, I thought I was going to play. I didn’t.”
Fresh from Sergio Aguero’s departure, the Brazilian probably thought it was his time to take the spotlight and shine as City’s new frontman.
However, Guardiola never seemed to have had much confidence in the striker, which eventually compelled the 26-year-old to greet Manchester and head to London last year.
Jesus enjoyed a promising start to his Arsenal career before a long-term spell on the sidelines knocked him off his perch, but he regained his place in Mikel Arteta’s starting XI towards the end of the 2022/23 campaign.
While he showed flashes of brilliance during his early days at the Emirates Stadium to earn Arteta’s trust, his mental weakness is a potentially ominous sign.
A lack of fortitude can never benefit the long game, especially for Arsenal, who have been fighting their demons for years on the back of Arsene Wenger’s retirement.
It’s up to Arteta to patch up old wounds and make Jesus feel good about himself again. Otherwise, who knows how his career in London could turn out?
