Arsenal have at long last announced the signing of former Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus in a £45million switch.
The Brazilian has swapped the Etihad for the Emirates as Gunners boss Mikel Arteta looks set to place next season's Champions League hopes in the boots of a player he knows very well already. The pair enjoyed a shared period in Manchester while Arteta was operating as the assistant manager for Pep Guardiola.
The deal is one that will see all parties involved hope it was worth the wait, particularly Arsenal fans who have been waiting for a new striker to arrive since the turn of the calendar year.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's- January exile sent shockwaves throughout the club, before he eventually left for Barcelona. During that same transfer window, the Gunners opted against signing a replacement - a decision that sparked huge backlash at the time.
However, with the acquisition of Jesus, it now seems like an intelligent move to not sign any warm body to occupy the front-line. Instead, Arteta waited and waited until he could finally get his man - the Spaniard said so after Jesus' unveiling as an Arsenal player.
"This is a position that’s been on our radar for a long time now and we have managed to get a player that we all wanted, so I’m really happy," the Gunners boss admitted.
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Arteta's patience is strikingly similar to that of Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who on multiple occasions has blocked out the cries from fans and pundits alike demanding a whole host of names to instead pursue the one target he viewed as the perfect candidate for the role.
The most obvious example would be the purchase of central defender Virgil van Dijk, who has since transformed the Reds recent fortunes and played a vital role in the club's most illustrious chapter of the last three decades.
Everyone at Arsenal will be desperate for Jesus to spearhead a similar period of success in north London. The Brazilian international has been handed the iconic Gunners number nine shirt, most recently worn by Frenchman and current Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette who left the club weeks before Jesus' arrival.
The former City star us expected to join up with his new teammates for pre-season training soon, as Arteta added: "I’m very excited. The club has done a tremendous job to recruit a player of this stature. I know Gabriel personally very well, and we all know him well from his time in the Premier League and being really successful here."
