Gabriel Jesus: Unbothered as Barcelona's Alvarez alternative

Gabriel Jesus has admitted he isn't bothered about being Barcelona's second choice after Julian Alvarez following his £12.85million transfer from Arsenal. Jesus has signed a three-year contract with Barca, who agreed to pay the Gunners a fee which could reach that amount. The Brazilian entered the final year of his deal in north London and Mikel Arteta made it clear that he didn't feature in his plans for the 2026/27 season.

He was frozen out of the first-team set-up along with Gabriel Martinelli and has now landed on his feet in Barcelona. The Catalan giants had wanted to sign Alvarez instead, but Atletico Madrid released a statement to publicly state they wouldn't do business with their La Liga rivals after growing irritated by their interest. Jesus rejected a move to Napoli and his decision ended up paying dividends, with a dream transfer to Barca the result.

"A week ago I received a message that it could happen," he said at his unveiling. "When I started to think it was a real possibility, I was so excited. Now I can't wait to start training and playing. It doesn't annoy me [being Plan B to Alvarez], it doesn't bother me. What annoys me is if people say I'm a bad guy, which has never happened in my life - or if I am not playing football, that bothers me. I have the chance to play for Barcelona, a chance I had 10 years ago and now life has offered me that opportunity again."

Jesus confirmed he took a significant salary drop to facilitate the move, stating, "But it wasn't just me who had to make an effort to get the transfer over line, Barça also played their part. If you had asked me one month ago, I would have said it was unlikely this would happen. At 29, I didn't think I would have the chance to come to Barça." After the departures of Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres left them without a recognised striker in the squad, Barça made Álvarez their top target this summer. However, with Atlético refusing to negotiate with them, they were forced to explore other options, with Jesus emerging as an alternative.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said he was "surprised" Jesus was available, adding that the forward is a perfect fit for his team's style of play. Jesus had fallen out of favour at Arsenal, where both Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyökeres have been preferred to him up front recently. Jesus becomes the Spanish champions' sixth signing of the summer after Anthony Gordon, Karim Adeyemi, Rodri, João Cancelo and Dominik Livaković. The arrival of Jesus ends Barça's pursuit of a No. 9 for now, with the transfer window closing on Tuesday, although a source said they remain interested in signing Atlético Madrid's Julián Álvarez in the future.