Pep Guardiola has insisted that Gabriel Jesus is part of his plans after the Brazilian shone in Manchester City’s 5-0 win over Norwich on Saturday.
The 24-year-old has been linked to a move away from Etihad Stadium this summer for City to raise funds to try to sign Tottenham striker Harry Kane.
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Jesus was excellent against Norwich
But, playing in a larger position, he proved his mettle against Canarias, scoring three of the goals and City kicked off their season in style.
It was his effervescent cross that goalkeeper Tim Krul ended up deflecting into his own goal in the seventh minute, then he also scored Jack Grealish’s first goal since his £ 100 million move when City were 2-0 up in 22 minutes.
After Aymeric Laporte swept home a fumble from a corner, Jesus then threw Raheem Sterling with another cross from the right before Riyad Mahrez completed the win in the final 10 minutes.
Despite all the talk about Kane’s pursuit by City, which has so far faced frustration because the Spurs refuse to negotiate, Jesus has been something of a forgotten man.
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Mahrez came off the bench to score his first goal of the season
But Guardiola was full of praise for him and confirmed that he will keep his place for the game against Arsenal next week.
“If I am to respond to all the rumors in the media, we need five press conferences,” Guardiola said. “The moment I tell you that I don’t like Gabriel, then we can talk about it.
“It is very important to me. It’s not just when he does an exceptional performance like today, it’s every day. He deserves to keep playing, when a boy plays this way, he deserves to play again.
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Grealish got his first in the sky blue shirt
“He is a player who likes to play in more open than central positions. One of the reasons why I am a technician in the best moments of my career, in addition to titles and trophies, is because you can work with people, humans like Gabriel.
“He never complains. They never disrespect their teammates. If he plays five minutes, he plays the best five minutes he can get. He plays to the right, he is happy, he plays central, he is happy, he plays to the left, he is happy.
“The combination with Kyle (Walker) was exceptional. I am very satisfied with the performance he has put in, an incredibly important player for us, he is so young. Big congratulations because you deserve the best in life because you are so generous. I am incredibly satisfied «.
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