FC Barcelona fans are awaiting the Catalan club's official announcement within the next few hours regarding the signing of Gabriel Jesus from Arsenal.
Barcelona has reached an agreement with Arsenal to sign Gabriel Jesus for 10 million euros, on a two-year contract with an option for a third season.
The newspaper "Marca" revealed that this is not the first time Barcelona has been interested in signing Gabriel Jesus, as the Blaugrana attempted to sign the player about 10 years ago when he was still at Palmeiras.
It added that Barcelona's sporting director at the time, Robert Fernandez, personally traveled to Brazil to watch Jesus with Palmeiras, when the player was already an international for the Brazilian national team. However, Barcelona was not the only club interested in signing the player at the time, while Jesus was hesitant about his next move.
It clarified that Barcelona attempted to include Neymar, the team's star at the time, in the deal. The current Santos star spoke with Jesus while the two were together with the Brazilian national team at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in 2016, trying to convince the striker to move to the Blaugrana, a fact that Jesus himself has acknowledged.
Jesus said in a previous interview with "The Sun" newspaper: "It was a difficult moment when I chose the club I would move to. Neymar knows what it feels like to be young and receive offers from several European clubs. Neymar spoke to me about Barcelona and the city, saying that the climate there is similar to Brazil's. This made me hesitate because Barcelona is also a great club, but I realized that I could go to another big club where I could get more opportunities to play regularly."
Marca added that the intervention of Manchester City's manager at the time, Pep Guardiola, in the deal played a significant role in Jesus's decision to join the Citizens over Barcelona.
Manchester City had signed Jesus at the beginning of 2017 from Palmeiras for 35 million euros. The player then left the Etihad Stadium in 2022 to move to Arsenal, before now settling at Barcelona for a new challenge.
