Chelsea have been left haunted by a decision made from manager Thomas Tuchel last summer, which Arsenal have inevitably gained from this season.
Chelsea chose not to pursue a deal to sign Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City last summer after Thomas Tuchel opted against the transfer which left Arsenal benefitting hugely in return.
The Blues had the option to sign the Brazilian ahead of the 2022/23 campaign with Todd Boehly ready to make the move happen, however Thomas Tuchel did not want the club to sign the player. Boehly ended up spending around £270million on other new signings in his first window as the owner at Stamford Bridge. These signings included players such as Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella, Kalidou Kouliably and Raheem Sterling.
Chelsea sent Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan on loan and instead of signing Gabriel Jesus, they were left short in attack on deadline day and chose to bring in former Arsenal striker, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Chelsea spent over £300m in the January transfer window but still didn’t sign an out-and-out number nine with Sterling and Havertz leading the line for the majority of the 2022/23 campaign. Chelsea finished 12th and had their worst Premier League season of all time so that tells the story of how the year went at Stamford Bridge. It could have been so different if Tuchel gave the green light to a deal for Jesus.
According to The Guardian, there was surprise at Chelsea that Tuchel rejected the chance to sign Gabriel Jesus. Arsenal, without the Champions League football that Chelsea could boast, snuck in and signed the 26-year-old.
Gabriel Jesus chose to sign for Arsenal, rather than Chelsea last summer. [Image Credit: Getty Images]
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Mikel Arteta is a man who knows the player well, after their time at Manchester City together, and that worked in Arsenal’s favour in helping bring the Brazilian to North London last summer. Arsenal ended up signing the striker for around £50million, which worked out to be a great deal with how Gabriel Jesus’ helped transform the Arsenal attack this season.
Despite being injured for over three months, Gabriel Jesus’ influence on the Arsenal team cannot be underestimated. At 26-years-old, Jesus found himself as one of the leaders in a young Arsenal dressing room. He helped take the Arsenal attack to a different level under Mikel Arteta, which helped the club put together a surprising title challenge this season, which few people expected at the start of the 2022/23 campaign.
Jesus’ agent has since said Chelsea made a last-ditched attempt to sign him but the decision had already been made for him to sign for Arsenal. Chelsea moved too late and are now regretting that decision.
Gabriel Jesus went on to record 18 goal contributions for Arsenal in the Premier League, which considering he was out injured for three months and only started 24 games, it’s a very respectable return in his first year at the Emirates Stadium. Compare that to Chelsea’s attackers with Kai Havertz being the top scorer at Stamford Bridge with seven Premier League goals. Raheem Sterling got six in his debut season at the club.
Gabriel Jesus was Arsenal’s fourth top scorer this season, however he would have been Chelsea’s top scorer with a tally of 11 Premier League goals. It has been a horror season for Chelsea but there is no doubt Jesus would have made a difference had he joined them last summer.
Jesus, alongside Oleksandr Zinchenko, transformed how Arsenal under Mikel Arteta this season, which helped the club go from 5th to fighting for the title in a matter of months.
Mikel Arteta’s side were able to carry the momentum from the first-half of the season throughout Gabriel Jesus’ injury absence. Ultimately they fell short in their quest to win a first title in 19 years, but the Brazilian’s impact was immeasurable.
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