Gabriel Jesus set for Arsenal medical ahead of £45m transfer as Gunners prepare fresh Raphinha bid 

(Manchester City FC via Getty Ima) Gabriel Jesus is due to fly to London this week to undergo a medical at Arsenal and seal his £45million move from Manchester City. Jesus agreed terms on a five-year contract on Sunday after Arsenal and City reached an agreement in principle over his transfer on Friday. The Brazilian will become Arsenal’s second major summer signing after they paid £34m for Porto midfielder Fabio Vieira last week. Arsenal are backing manager Mikel Arteta in the transfer market this summer and are continuing to work on a deal for Leeds winger Raphinha. The Gunners had an opening bid for the 25-year-old rejected last week but are expected to return with an improved offer this week. Arsenal have prioritised strengthening their attack this summer and in signing Jesus they have secured their No1 forward target. Chelsea, Juventus, Real Madrid and Tottenham had all shown an interest in the 25-year-old but Arsenal have acted swiftly to secure his signing. Jesus has one year left on his contract at the City. He wants to be a regular starter and has told Pep Guardiola he wants leave City following their signing of Erling Haaland. Jesus has a good relationship with Arteta, after working with him when the Spaniard was an assistant to Guardiola at Manchester City, and that has influenced his decision. Signing a striker has been a priority for Arsenal this summer after Alexandre Lacazette left for Lyon on a free transfer. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also departed in January for Barcelona. Leeds value Raphinha at around £60m. The Brazilian is also attracting interest from Tottenham, Chelsea and Barcelona. He is believed to favour a move to Barcelona and is thought to have already agreed terms with the Catalans. But Barcelona’s financial situation complicates the deal, opening the door for Arsenal. The Gunners want to get the bulk of their transfer business done early this summer. They have already signed Brazilian teenage winger Marquinhos for around £3m from Sao Paulo and goalkeeper Matt Turner this morning finalised a £7.5m move from MLS side New England Revolution. The American is expected to come in and become the back-up to Aaron Ramsdale, with Bernd Leno set to leave this summer. Arsenal are also working to get players off their books, but progress has been slow on that front. Lucas Torreira had been expected to make his loan move to Fiorentina permeant but the Italian side refused to pay the pre-agreed price of around £12.5m. Defender Daniel Ballard had been set to join Burnley but that move collapsed late on. The Northern Ireland international has interest from other Championship clubs. Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Hector Bellerin and Nicolas Pepe are three other players who could leave this summer.

Meet the Author

View Profile

---

Arthur Emmanuel

Blogger

follow me