Arsenal star linked with transfer exit after club president's comments

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta (Picture: Getty)

Palmeiras club president Leila Pereira has made public their desire to bring Gabriel Jesus back to the Brazilian club in the future.

Jesus made his Palmeiras debut in March 2015, going on to score 21 goals in 67 league matches before completing a move to Manchester City for an initial fee of £27million in August 2016.

After six seasons and four Premier League titles at City, Jesus moved to Arsenal for £45m but a combination of fitness problems and poor form have seen the attacker drop down the pecking order in north London .

A torn ACL has kept Jesus sidelined since January , with the 28-year-old yet to feature this term and targeting a return to first-team action in the New Year .

However, recent reports suggest that Arsenal are open to offers for the Brazil international, whose current contract runs through to June 2027.

Viktor Gyokeres’ summer arrival from Sporting – and Kai Havertz’s willingness and ability to play as a false nine – means Jesus is now deemed surplus to requirements in Arteta’s squad.

And in a recent interview, Palmeiras president Pereira said she would love to bring Jesus back to the club where his career first began.

Gabriel Jesus is sidelined with an ACL injury (Picture: Getty)

‘Gabriel Jesus, I’ll say more. Soon you’re coming back home, Gabriel! One day you’ll return,’ she told journalist Paloma Tocci.

Flamengo have also been credited with an interest in Jesus, while Premier League side Everton have also been linked with a move for the striker.

While Jesus continues his rehabilitation behind the scenes, his Arsenal teammates have made an impressive start to the season and top the table by one point over Liverpool.

Jesus began his career at Palmeiras (Picture: Getty)

And after another heavy summer of recruitment, Alan Shearer believes Mikel Arteta’s side are in prime position to finally end their trophy drought.

‘It has to be Arsenal’s year to win the Premier League,’ he told Betfair.

‘They’ve spent an absolute fortune, finished second for the last three years so we know, and Arteta knows that the eyes will be on him and he has to win the Premier League this year. When you spend the amount of money that they have, second is no good.

‘They’re strong, have had a really tough start and they’ve come through it. That’s great credit to Mikel Arteta.

‘If you look at the substitutes bench from last season against West Ham in February, compared to now, there’s only two players on that bench from what there was last weekend.

‘The big difference is that, when Martin Odegaard went off, he was replaced by Zubimendi. That’s the difference.’