Eight years ago Arsene Wenger posited a theory about the birthplace of the greatest forward talents in modern football. “If you look across Europe and the world of football, then South America is the only continent to develop strikers today,” the visionary Frenchman said. “If you look across Europe where are the strikers from? You will see that many of them - at least 80 per cent - come from South America.
“Maybe in our history street football has gone. In street football when you are 10 years old, you play with 15-year-olds so you have to be shrewd, you have to show that you are good, you have to fight, win impossible balls. When it is all a bit more formulated then it is developing your individual skill, your fighting attitude less. We have lost a little bit of that in football.” When watching Gabriel Jesus play it's safe to say that Wenger's hypothesis has been proven right.
There is so much to admire about the Brazilian. His technical play, dribbling ability and speed of brain and body are all at an elite standard. What stands about all else when watching him though, is his desire.
