The day Neymar tried to sign Gabriel Jesus for Barça
He spoke to him so that he wouldn't go to Manchester City and would land at Camp Nou
Barcelona have completed the signing of Gabriel Jesus, the Arsenal forward, for whom they have paid 10 million euros as a transfer fee. A last-minute surprise deal, when everything indicated that the club would not sign any striker given the impossibility of completing Julián Álvarez's arrival due to Atlético de Madrid's refusal to negotiate. It is not the first time the Brazilian has been on the Blaugrana club's radar.
Barça had already taken notice of him when he was emerging at Palmeiras . That happened in 2016. Robert Fernández, then the sporting director of the blaugrana club, traveled to Brazil to watch the footballer live, as he was already standing out in the Brazilian team. The problem was that it was not the only European club interested in his services. The competition was intense and the player was unsure about which destination to choose.
"Barcelona played the Neymar card. Both were in the Brazilian national team that would compete in the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games . During the training camp, the then already Barcelona player spoke with Gabriel Jesus to try to convince him to sign for Barcelona , as the forward himself acknowledged in an interview.
Neymar told me about the city, that the climate was similar to Brazil, and it made me hesitate
“It was a difficult moment when I had to choose a team. Neymar knows what it’s like to be young and have several European clubs want you . He told me about what Barcelona was like, about the city. And he told me the climate is similar to Brazil’s. He made me hesitate because Barça is also a great club, but I realized that I could go to another big club with more chances to play ,” said Gabriel Jesus in an interview with The Sun.
The other big club he was referring to was Manchester City. And the difference was Pep Guardiola's phone call , which tipped the balance so that the striker would move to the English side and rule out the Barcelona option. “I saw that City was really interested in me after speaking with Pep on the phone ,” he said.
And this is where the possibility of Gabriel Jesus joining Barcelona came to an end. Now, ten years later, the door to the blaugrana club has opened for him.
