Gabriel Jesus has recalled the moment when he opted to leave Manchester City after a decision made by manager Pep Guardiola reduced the forward to tears.
The 26-year-old spent five trophy-laden years at the Etihad Stadium between 2017 and 2022, winning four Premier League titles as well as scoring 95 goals and providing 46 assists in 236 appearances across all competitions.
Jesus was regarded by many as the heir to legendary striker Sergio Aguero at Man City, but the Brazilian called time on his spell with the Citizens in search of regular first-team football and joined Mikel Arteta's Arsenal for around £45m last summer.
Before departing the Etihad, Jesus was the only recognised striker at Man City, but he preferred to operate out wide under Guardiola, leaving the Catalan boss without a natural focal point before the arrival of Erling Haaland.
Jesus has since opened up on his struggles for game time with the Citizens and how he made the decision to leave the club during a tearful phone call with his mother after being snubbed by Guardiola for a Champions League group-stage fixture with Paris Saint-Germain in 2021.
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The Brazilian was named on the substitutes' bench at the expense of left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko – now a teammate at Arsenal – before coming on in the second half to score and provide an assist in a 2-1 victory at the Etihad.
Speaking on the 'Denilson Show' podcast, Jesus said: "There was a Champions League game, PSG, at home, in which he put Zinchenko as a false 9. Crazy thing.
"The day before, he didn't even use him [Zinchenko] in training, he had put me in as a striker... Zinchenko even joked with me: 'that day I felt bad for you.'
"Two hours before the game, there's a team talk, the team eats, rests for 30 minutes and goes to the game. He told us the team... I didn't even eat. I went straight to the room, crying, I called my mother to talk: 'I want to leave.' I'm going home, because he put him [Zinchenko] on, and he didn't put me on. He put a left-back there. I went crazy.
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"I didn't warm up. I felt bad. Five minutes after [Kylian] Mbappe scored the goal for 1-0, he [Guardiola] called me. I gave an assist and scored; we turned it around 2-1. In the next [Champions League] game, I thought I was going to play, and I didn't play."
Jesus added: "There was a lot of that with [Guardiola], and it's not easy. But one evolves. It is really hard. That's when I decided, I didn't want to stay anymore. And I decided to leave."
Arsenal's new No.9 endured an injury-hit debut campaign at the Emirates Stadium but he still managed to score 11 Premier League goals in 26 games, including six strikes in his final 10 appearances in 2022-23.
Man City, meanwhile, have has few problems scoring goals since Jesus's exit, with Haaland netting a remarkable 52 goals in 53 games last season to help steer the Citizens to a Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble.
Oliver Thomas
