Man City will welcome new strikers Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez next season, meaning Jesus' game time could be very limited; Arsenal have lost Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on free transfers this year
Monday 4 July 2022 08:44, UK
Arsenal have reached an agreement in principle with Manchester City to sign Gabriel Jesus.
There is still work to do to finalise the deal, including medical and personal terms but the fee is understood to be £45m.
Arsenal are also expected to go back in with an improved bid for Leeds United forward Raphinha.
The north London club put in nearly six months of work with Jesus' representative Marcello Pettinati to ensure they were in pole position to recruit him from the Premier League champions this summer.
Jesus indicated his desire to move to the Emirates at the start of June and the only hindrance so far has been the distance between the valuations of both clubs.
Jesus wants to reunite with Mikel Arteta, who would regularly offer individual coaching and advice when serving as assistant to Pep Guardiola.
Arsenal's strength of pursuit, the fact they are desperately in need of an attacker in his mould, and the opportunity for Jesus to assume more responsibility appeals.
Arteta is without a senior striker after the expiry of Alexandre Lacazette's contract and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's exit to Barcelona.
"Gabriel Jesus is a player who has a lot of talent and a lot of potential, but he needs to have more playing time in order to gain confidence," former Brazil international Ze Roberto tells Sky Sports.
"The mentality Pep Guardiola has is to rotate his whole team and give opportunities to every player, but I believe the best version of Gabriel Jesus is when he is motivated and playing consistently.
"When a player like Gabriel is in the team then out of it, it is very difficult for him to have stability and find confidence. I think it is always going to be difficult for that to change at Manchester City."
Manchester City have agreed a deal with Leeds to sign midfielder Kalvin Phillips for a fee in the region of £45m to £50m.
England international Phillips is moving closer to leaving his boyhood club, where he came through the academy and flourished under former boss Marcelo Bielsa.
The deal has yet to be officially completed as Phillips still needs to agree personal terms and pass a medical.
Sky Sports News understands, out of loyalty to Leeds, the only club he would have joined was Manchester City and he has turned down approaches from other clubs.
The 26-year-old will look to fill the void left by Fernandinho at City, who revealed he will be leaving the club this summer after nine years with the club.
The Transfer Window closes at 11pm on September 1.
Keep up-to-date with all the latest transfer news and rumours in our dedicated Transfer Centre blog on Sky Sports' digital platforms. You can also catch up with the ins, outs and analysis on Sky Sports News.
