Report: Tottenham considering swooping for Gabriel Jesus from under Arsenal’s nose

With the season done and dusted, it means that silly season is now officially underway. Expect it to be a busy one, made even busier by the fact that Tottenham Hotspur’s table position and Champions League qualification means that they’ll likely be linked with an entirely new and better category of potentially available players.

For the past few weeks, it’s been surmised that Gabriel Jesus was likely to leave Manchester City for opportunities at a different Premier League club. However, the North London club that was most closely linked with the Brazilian was Arsenal, not Spurs. That’s still the case, apparently. However, the Telegraph is reporting that Jesus is a target for Tottenham this summer, with the club already having made contact with his agent, and the player being “aware” of Spurs’ interest.

Tottenham are apparently one of six other clubs interested in Jesus this summer, which makes sense — he’s a young, dynamic, and talented striker that has been somewhat buried under the wealth of attacking options under Pep Guardiola at City. But he’s also a player that could slot in exceptionally well as a wide attacking option under Antonio Conte, and he can also play centrally in relief of, or rotation for, Harry Kane.

Arsenal seem to have the advantage, at least for now, as Mikel Arteta is building a squad of young, improving talent, and Jesus would probably be an instant starter there. But what Arsenal can’t offer (and Tottenham can!) is Champions League football. City are probably going to ask for a lot of money — the latest rumors said City quoted Arsenal a fee of £55m — and even with investment that’s a lot of cheddar for a position that arguably isn’t among the biggest needs at Spurs right now. That said, the mere fact that Tottenham are now apparently in the conversation for someone like Jesus speaks volumes about how Spurs are now being viewed under Conte and now that they’re back playing at the highest levels of the sport. And also, wouldn’t it be kind of fun to lend further credence to the conspiracy theories by basically bullying Arsenal into giving Spurs their milk money?

Gonna be a whole bunch of these kinds of stories in the next few weeks and months. Can’t wait!