Ferdinand tells Arsenal to ‘go and buy’ €60m-rated Man City star
Man Utd legend Rio Ferdinand has encouraged Arsenal to “go and buy” Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus.
The Gunners are set to be in the market for a new striker this summer. This comes after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left the club to join Barcelona last month.
Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah are still options for Mikel Arteta but both forwards are out of contract this summer.
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Jesus made the move to Man City in 2017 for around £27m from Palmeiras. He has scored 88 goals from his 222 appearances for the English side.
The Brazillian has only started 17 games across all competitions this season. He has provided two goals and eight assists in the league.
Ferdinand and respected journalist Fabrizio Romano have been talking about Jesus’ future.
Romano has hinted that Jesus would cost a fee in the region of €60m:
“At the moment I’m told there are no talks for Gabriel Jesus because [Inter Milan] can’t bid for €60 or €50 million so we’re just talking about ideas and rumours,” Romano told Ferdinand’s Vibe with Five YouTube channel.
“But I’m sure that Gabriel Jesus’s situation, alongside of Raheem Sterling’s situation, is something that needs to be clarified in the coming months for Manchester City. They’re both out of contract in 2023.
“For Gabriel Jesus, they need to discuss internally and see what they want to do. Because, with a new striker joining Manchester City in the summer, I’m not sure that the position of Gabriel Jesus will be so clear.”
Ferdinand then suggested: “If I was Arsenal, I would go and buy Gabriel Jesus.”
The BT Sport pundit believes Aubameyang has benefitted from his Arsenal exit:
“I just feel he looks happy again. I saw him at Arsenal for a number of months where he just didn’t look happy.
“People undervalue and underestimate how important your happiness is when you’re a footballer or any job that you’ve got to have that element of happiness and fulfilment and he just wasn’t having that at Arsenal.
“Both have benefited from him leaving. Arteta has got even more of a stranglehold on the squad, more respect, they know where they stand now, there’s a line that they don’t go beyond, we don’t know the details of that.”