Vincent Agaba Blog

Done Deal: Man City complete signing of Brazilian wonder kid Gabriel Jesus.

By James Walters                    

STAR MAN: Jesus has joined Guardiola's revolution

City boss Pep Guardiola beat fierce competition from former club Barcelona to land the 19-year-old.

The Spanish giants were desperate to land the youngster dubbed 'the new Neymar'.

And Neymar himself even attempted to persuade his compatriot to move to La Liga.

The £27m buy - with another £4m to come in add-ons - takes City's summer spending to over £100m.

The move was confirmed this afternoon on City's website.

Jesus is currently with the Brazilian squad preparing for the Olympic Games - they play South Africa in their opening group game tomorrow - and were waiting for the green light to fly in and complete the formalities.

Jesus has signed a five-year-contract but will be loaned back to Palmeiras until the end of the year in order to finish the Brazilian season with them.

He has yet to win a senior Brazil cap but City are confident of securing a work permit on the basis that Jesus is an 'outstanding talent' who will become an international regular for his country.

The announcement of his signing comes just 24 hours after City completed the £37m signing of 20-year-old German international Leroy Sane from Schalke.

 

Jesus is Guardiola’s sixth signing following the deals for Sane, German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan (£20.4m), Spain striker Nolito (£13.8m), Ukraine striker Oleks Zinchenko (£1.7m) and Dutch youngster Aaron Mooy.

City are also close to sealing an £8m deal for Colombian whizzkid Marlos Moreno, 19, who will be loaned to Spanish club Deportivo La Coruna.

And they are hoping that Everton’s bid for Swansea’s Ashley Williams is a signal the Merseyside club are ready to lower their £50m valuation of John Stones.

City have tabled a £40m offer for the England defender but if Everton fail to compromise, they have lined up Juventus and Italy defender Leonardo Bonucci as an alternative.