In a recent interview, Brazilian footballer Gabriel Jesus revealed the reason he decided to leave Manchester City to play for London’s Arsenal Gunners, the Daily Caller reported.
In an interview on the podcast the “Denilson Show” earlier this month, Jesus said he decided to leave after Man City coach Pep Guardiola made him cry by keeping him off the starting lineup during the 2021 Champions League game against Saint Germain.
Jesus said Guardiola put Oleksandr Zinchenko in as a “false 9” which was a “crazy thing” to do. He said during training the day before the game, the coach put him in as a striker and didn’t use Zinchenko.
After the coach announced the starting line-up, Jesus said he couldn’t eat. Instead, he went to his room in tears where he called his mother to say he was leaving Manchester City and going home because Coach Guardiola was playing Zinchenko instead of him.
Later in the game, Zinchenko was pulled out and replaced by Jesus who provided the assist on the tying score and scored the late goal that secured Manchester City a 2-1 victory over Paris Saint Germain.
But Jesus described his exclusion from the starting lineup as the “turning point” for him. He explained that it was what made him decide that he wanted to leave Manchester City.
The 26-year-old striker spent more than five years with the team, scoring 95 goals, according to the UK Sun.
After leaving Machester City in 2022, Jesus joined Arsenal.
He was forced to withdraw from Brazil’s World Cup team in Qatar after damaging his knee.
In his debut season at Arsenal, Jesus scored 11 goals in 33 games after recovering from knee surgery.
The footballer said after moving to Arsenal, he felt he was “free.”
