Ex-Chelsea defender Glen Johnson believes Arsenal would have lost out to his former club if they had attempted to sign Gabriel Jesus this summer.

The Brazilian secured his £45m move from Manchester City earlier this month, but Johnson feels the player’s decision to join Gunners does not make a lot of sense:

“I’m surprised that City even let him go. And I’m certainly surprised that he’s ended up at Arsenal… Again, no offence to Arsenal, but I’m pretty certain that, if Chelsea had wanted him, he would have gone to Chelsea. It’s bizarre how he left and it’s bizarre where he’s landed. For me, Jesus is a top player and, though he’s still young, he’s already done it for a top team in a top league, so why wouldn’t you want him?”

Let’s address a few of the points that Johnson makes. Firstly, City allowed Jesus to leave because he had less than a year left on his contract and he wasn’t willing to sign an extension.

Secondly, his move to the Gunners has been in the works for a number of months. Jesus already knew manager Mikel Arteta from working together at City and that played an important role in him deciding to make the switch to the Emirates, along with technical director Edu, who worked with the player during his time with the Brazilian national team.

For those reasons, even though Chelsea could have offered Champions League football, it is not as clear-cut as Johnson makes out.