Arsenal's newest recruit Gabriel Jesus has opened up on how new manager Mikel Arteta's willingness to work with him behind the scenes at former club Manchester City helped inspire his Emirates switch.
The pair are familiar with each other from their time at the Etihad when Arteta was operating as an assistant coach to City boss Pep Guardiola. In that time, the now-Arsenal duo struck up a healthy relationship which has gone on to benefit the Gunners greatly after confirming the £45million transfer.
Speaking to Arsenal's in-house media once the deal had been made public, Jesus explained how talks with Arteta confirmed to him that the Emirates was the place to be for the next chapter of his career after five years of playing in the sky blue of City.
"We spoke a couple of times about the club, the players, the project and the future. I believe 100 per cent in Mikel. I had a very good time with him before, he’s a very good guy and a very good coach as well," the new Arsenal forward revealed.
Jesus went on to discuss how time spent together after training sessions while at City stuck in the memory of the Brazilian and clearly only enhanced Arteta's stock in his eyes.
"He helped me a lot [at Manchester City]. We would always stick together after the training sessions and do some finishing or something. He’s a very intelligent guy and was an amazing player, so if he knows something he can teach me or the young players."
Jesus also shed light on the fact he has long had an affection for the Gunners, dating all the way back to his childhood in Brazil. "I followed Arsenal when I was young because of [Thierry] Henry," he added.
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"Obviously I didn’t follow too many European teams but when I saw some of the players that played here, I was like 'wow, this club is big.' When I played against Arsenal I was looking at the Emirates and it was a very good stadium, so I’m very excited to play here."
The Arsenal hierarchy could barely contain their delight at signing a four-time Premier League-winning striker to bolster their front-line ahead of the new season. Much like Jesus, Arteta harked back to their relationship at City as a contributing factor to the move.
"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," explained the Arsenal boss.
"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."
