“I played a vital role bringing him to Arsenal” — Gabriel Jesus

“I went to Zinchenko’s house to try and convince him to join Arsenal” — Gabriel Jesus opens up.

Arsenal striker and former Manchester City forward, Gabriel Jesus opens up on the role he starred in while Oleksandr Zinchenko contemplated an exit from Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side.

The two teammates happened to have been teammates also at Arsenal and coincidentally left the club in the same summer transfer, albeit Gabriel Jesus joining Arsenal weeks before Zinchenko made the move.

The signing of the 26-year Oleksandr Zinchenko has turned out to be the puzzle the North London side needed following his performances in his debut season, with the Ukrainian even inspiring the Gunners to a shock title race up until April of 2023.

In the title race, both ex-Manchester City players played pivotal roles in keeping the Gunners in front at crucial stages of the premier league season down to when the team eventually lost the top position to Manchester City.

In a chat with GOAL, the Brazil international reveals he had accompanied Arsenal’s Sporting Director, Edu to speak and convince Zinchenko to make the move to the Emirates.

“Edu just texted me and said they were going to Zinny’s house, if I want to come to join them to talk with Zin and then I come by plane.

“So I say ‘OK.’ I went there and talked with him. He was surprised.

“I just said ‘Zina, you have to take a decision like I did and I am happy with this.’ He was a little bit ‘I don’t know, I need to talk with my wife first’ but he took the decision [to come]. I think if you ask him, it was the right decision.”