As Arsenal star Gabriel Jesus held a press conference at Brazil’s camp, he talked a lot about the change in his position.
The attacker has had different kinds of roles when playing for Palmeiras, Manchester City and the Gunners, and that always reflected on the instructions for him at the national team as well.
Quoted by Globo Esporte, Gabriel Jesus started by revealing that Brazil’s new manager Fernando Diniz would rather see him playing in his old roles.
“At Palmeiras, I did it a lot , I think it was the club I did it at the most, when I started playing more centrally. I played as a centre-forward, very loose and doing the ‘facão’. That’s where I did it the most. The first thing Diniz said when I came in for the other call-up was that he wanted to see Gabriel from Palmeiras, from City,” said Gabriel Jesus.
The striker then talked about the different positioning he’s had at Arsenal, always claiming he doesn’t mind following Diniz’s orders.
Gabriel Jesus even recalled that when signing for Arsenal, he made it clear that he wanted to be the Gunners’ new number nine.
“It’s worth pointing out that I’ve been playing a lot of roles at Arsenal, obviously when I chose to move from City to Arsenal, Edu and Arteta spoke to me, and I made it clear that I’d like to play 9. That was Arsenal’s idea, for me to play 9, loose.
“This season has been different, we’ve had injuries and in the last few games I’ve played three up front. For a while, I thought I’d just say I wanted to play 9, but I’m here to help the team. I’m blessed by God to have this talent and the versatility to play in all three forward positions. I prefer not to choose.”
Jesus has just recovered from his knee injury, and has three goals in nine appearances for Arsenal this season. Since he wasn’t a starter in any of the games Fernando Diniz has managed for the national team, he still needs to prove himself to the new boss to guarantee a place in the team.
