Arsenal discover Gabriel Jesus transfer competition as agent breaks silence

Gabriel Jesus' agent has admitted Arsenal are one of seven clubs keen on the forward, who may have to leave Manchester City this summer.

The Brazilian has been at the Etihad since the 2016/17 season but will soon face competition from Erling Haaland, whose move was announced recently. He will join from Borussia Dortmund and is expected to command the No.9 role leaving Jesus to either adapt to a different position or accept a squad role.

Jesus has been prolific in patches without ever being able to truly establish himself as City's premier marksman. Haaland will also be joined by highly-rated Argentine youngster Julian Alvarez. It may force Jesus to seek pastures new as he looks to ensure he has consistent minutes.

His agent Marcelo Pettinati said: "We had talks with Arsenal about Gabriel Jesus, we like the project - it's a possibility we're discussing. There are six more clubs interested in Gabriel - he's focused on final games with Man City, we'll see".

Gabriel scored four times against Watford last month amid speculation he was going to be moving this summer. This term he's notched 13 times with his single season best coming in 2019/20 when he netted on 23 occasions. Arsenal's interest stems from the fact they are - as it stands - due to lose several forwards this summer and are desperate to upgrade their front line.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was allowed to leave in January whilst Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah will both see their contracts expire in the summer and have shown no intention of staying put at the Emirates. It would leave Mikel Arteta with a lack of firepower and seeking new options.

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The Gunners missed out on Dusan Vlahovic back in January, despite chasing the Serbian for much of the window before he eventually opted for a switch to Juventus. Jesus is set to cost any suitor around the £40m mark, such is City's valuation, and the Gunners would have to be in the Champions League for him to entertain a move.

Arteta has spoken of his want to add a striker with their potency the crucial factor. He told Sky Sports : "He puts the ball in the net - that's priority number one. Goal threat. Any successful team needs enough goal threat in the squad. Without it, you have nothing. You can play good football, but you need enough goal threat in the team. The other thing is that he has to complement the other people we have, personally and on the pitch. We need the right profile."