Arsenal were ‘offered’ chance to sign PSG star but pursued £45m Edu ‘priority’ instead
According to reports, Arsenal were “offered” the chance to buy PSG forward Mauro Icardi earlier this summer but they instead opted to sign Gabriel Jesus.
The Gunners fell short in the race for the top four last term as they finished up two points adrift of their rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Mikel Arteta’s side are looking to kick on and they have been busy in the transfer market this summer. They have spent around £120m to sign the likes of Oleksandr Zinchenko and Fabio Vieira.
Arsenal have also brought in Jesus from Manchester City for a fee of around £45m. He has hit the ground running in pre-season, scoring four goals in four friendlies.
Had they not been able to sign Jesus, Arsenal could have opted to sign PSG’s Mauro Icardi. Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has revealed that the French giants “offered” the attacker to Arsenal a couple of months ago.
Icardi endured a difficult season in 2021/22, as he only started ten times in Ligue 1. He netted five goals in 30 outings overall.
Jesus looks to be a far better signing, with Romano acknowledging that the Brazilian was Edu’s “priority” this summer:
“Arsenal have had many opportunities that they have turned down, but this happens in all the top clubs every day,” Romano explained (via Caught Offside).
“For example, Mauro Icardi was an option offered to the club in recent months and it was decided not to proceed because they were looking for a different striker, Edu has always had Gabriel Jesus in mind as a priority.
“Sometimes the refusal is for technical reasons, other times for economic reasons.”
Ex-Arsenal defender Mikael Silvestre believes Jesus will give Arteta more options in attacking areas:
“It’s still a young group of players with not much experience in the Premier League in terms of games, and it’s still a young manager too. But they look to be on the right track,” Silvestre told 888 Sport.
“Jesus will be the number nine though many teams now don’t play with what you might call a proper old-fashioned number nine. That’s not an issue because the guy is so mobile and we saw against Chelsea he likes to go out to the right. He has the capacity to wide to the left or right like he did at City and that’s very good for Mikel because it gives him options.”
