The Manchester City forward has been in England for more than three years and has a World Cup behind him as Brazil’s main striker.
However, at the Etihad, Jesus is still Sergio Aguero’s understudy.
The 23-year-old has been effective since he joined from Palmeiras in January 2017, with a decent strike rate of 64 goals from 145 appearances.
However, while he has a healthy and respectful rivalry with Aguero, it’s time for Jesus to show his killer instinct and prove that he can be the first-choice striker at the Etihad Stadium.
Aguero has just one year remaining on his contract and Jesus has to show that he is the ideal replacement for the greatest goalscorer in City’s history – sooner rather than later.
Indeed, the next month will be key to Jesus’ hopes of becoming City’s main man.
Pep Guardiola has confirmed that Aguero will not be fit for the last-16 second-leg clash with Real Madrid.
The tie looked over five months ago when City won 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu but Zinedine Zidane’s men will now fancy their chances of turning things around behind closed doors in Manchester, having stormed to the top of La Liga with a seven-game winning streak.
Whether Aguero will have recovered from an operation on a meniscus knee injury in time for the quarter-finals in Lisbon – should City qualify – remains to be seen.
Jesus, though, clearly needs to make the most of the Argentine’s absence to stake a claim for a regular starting spot. Continue reading