Roy Keane claims Manchester City were only too happy to sell Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal - as they do not view the Gunners as a "threat".
Jesus, 25, arrived at the Emirates in a £45million transfer at the start of July and was soon joined by former City teammate Zinchenko, 25, who was signed for £30million. The duo delighted their new club's fans on Saturday afternoon as Arsenal earned an emphatic 6-0 victory over Sevilla in the Emirates Cup.
Jesus drew special praise after scoring a hat-trick to leave fans wondering whether the Gunners have pulled off a coup by securing the Brazilian's services. However, Keane suspects Pep Guardiola had no qualms about letting Jesus and Zinchenko leave - while Raheem Sterling also departed for Chelsea - after revitalising his squad with the addition of Erling Haaland.
"I wouldn't doubt Pep's opinion on players," the former Manchester United captain told ITV Sport. "He works with them closely. You've got to keep moving on, you've got to freshen things up. They've got good money for these players, who have been brilliant players for Manchester City.
"Jesus has really done well the last dew months, Sterling's stats are fantastic, but with Haaland coming in, Pep's probably thinking he wants to keep a hungry squad. That's the name of the game.
"He probably, at this moment in time with the money that came in, doesn't see these clubs - certainly Arsenal - as a threat. The big worry at the moment is trying to keep ahead of Liverpool. Liverpool and Manchester City are so far ahead of the other teams, he thought it’s worth a gamble."
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Keane's comments were echoed by fellow pundit Ian Wright, who confessed City are "not worried" about letting players who have been great servants to the club leave. The former Arsenal striker also declared that Haaland is a huge "upgrade" on Jesus and Guardiola's other options up front.
"Man City are able to pass those players on, whether it's to Chelsea, a direct competitor, or Arsenal trying to be a direct competitor because they're not worried about people or what they can do," Wright said. "They're not worried about Jesus or Sterling going, good luck to them. They're looking at what they're doing. What they've done with a striker is an upgrade massively."
The Sky Blues were beaten 3-1 by Liverpool in the Community Shield on Saturday and have the chance to return to winning ways in their Premier League opener against West Ham on Sunday.
