Fabrizio Romano spent some time talking about the future of Manchester City forward Gabriel Jesus on the latest edition of his Here We Go podcast.
Jesus has spent the majority of the 2020/21 campaign so far on the sidelines due to injury but it may be fair to say that the Brazilian striker has played well when fit this term, as he has managed to score in each of his three appearances for Manchester City in all competitions so far this season.
Two of Jesus’ three appearances this term have come in the Premier League and the £54m-rated man has also earned the highest overall WhoScored rating of any City player in the top-flight for the 2020/21 campaign, indicating that he has produced some impressive performances when called upon this season.
With that in mind, it mightn’t come as a big surprise that Romano claimed the 23-year-old is “part of the future of” Manchester City during this podcast and he shared that he expects the Brazilian to be offered a new deal by his club next year.
Romano said: “He’s part of the future of the club and I expect Manchester City, next year – at the moment, no but next year, yes – starting [negotiations] to extend his contract.
“They need to negotiate to extend his contract because we are talking about a top talent and in this moment, in Europe, apart from [Erling Braut] Haaland and [Marcus] Rashford and more, it’s not easy to find good strikers, young strikers with these skills. So Gabriel Jesus will be the future for Manchester City.”
Is Jesus good enough to replace Sergio Aguero?
YES
NO
TIF Thoughts on what Romano had to say about Jesus’ future…
Sergio Aguero has struggled with fitness issues in recent seasons and with his contract set to expire at the end of the season, perhaps the Argentinian’s days are numbered at the Etihad Stadium, especially as the club’s chairman, Khaldoon al-Mubarak indicated in the summer that the club would be ‘comfortable’ for the 32-year-old to conclude his time at City at the end of the 2020/21 campaign.
If this does end up being Aguero’s last season at Manchester City, then perhaps we will see Jesus ‘establish himself as Pep Guardiola’s number one striker’ this term, as Manchester Evening News has claimed he is ‘as close as he’s been since the early weeks of his City career’ to doing.
If Jesus can put his early-season fitness issues behind him and deliver the performances he has produced of late consistently, then perhaps he will be seen as City’s main frontman by the end of the season and it mightn’t come as a surprise if the club does opt to tie him down to an even longer-term deal – with over two years remaining on his current contract – as a result.