Gabriel Jesus has praised the qualities of a player Manchester City sold four years ago now.
At City, Jesus had the privilege of playing and sharing the dressing room with several world-class players who have since left the club like him as well.
One of them was Sergio Aguero, whom the Arsenal forward competed with for a starting spot and must have realised how difficult a task that was.
Aguero was arguably the best striker in the Premier League for a majority of his spell at the Etihad Stadium and as a result, most number nine’s would have struggled to keep him out of the team.
Another one of those was Vincent Kompany, who captained Gabriel Jesus and his teammates during his time at Manchester City.
Considering Jesus signed for the Sky Blues as a 19-year-old, he had the experience not many youngsters have of learning his craft from such big names.
Kompany is an absolute legend of the game and a former player Haaland has admitted he would have loved to play alongside.
Gabriel Jesus hails player Manchester City sold in 2020
Another one of those players who likely must have been a role model for Jesus was Fernandinho.
Not only due to being a senior player and one of the best in the world in his position but also due to how the retired midfielder was his fellow countryman and had achieved as much as he had at City.
Fernandinho was also known to be a leader and one would not be surprised if Gabriel Jesus was under his wing.
Perhaps playing with players of such a calibre might have played a massive role in the former Palmeiras technician’s development.
Most players, regardless of how old they are would have loved to have been in Jesus’ position.
Such is the privilege that comes with playing for any elite club, not just the Sky Blues.
As Arsenal are set to face Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday, the player Gabriel Jesus praised was his former Manchester City teammate, Leroy Sane.
“[Leroy] Sane, what a person, what a guy, what a player”, he told TNT Sports.
Jesus continued, “We were together in our ex-club, City so we had a very good moment together. We know, of course, his quality, he knows mine as well.”
“But how can I say, it’s difficult to stop him, like others players they have like Harry Kane, [Jamal] Musiala, [Kingsley] Coman, [Thomas] Mueller, [Serge] Gnabry, they have a lot of players, a lot of quality so it’s not only Sane but more players.”
Watching Sane develop at City must’ve been inspiring for Jesus
In our view, Gabriel Jesus must have been inspired to see how Leroy Sane developed in a Manchester City shirt.
Much like Jesus, Sane also joined City as quite a raw prospect.
The German’s natural talent was there for all to see but it is far from simple to set the world alight while signing for one of the biggest clubs in the world at 20 years old.
However, Leroy Sane seemingly embraced the challenge and after an encouraging debut season at the Etihad Stadium, he was nurtured into a world-class winger by the time the following campaign came around.
To witness one of his agemates progress like Sane had at the time, as he was crucial in City’s first title win under Guardiola must have inspired Jesus to strive for bigger and better things.