Pep Guardiola is weighing up whether to give Gabriel Jesus his debut against Tottenham on Saturday but has warned that the teenager cannot solve all of Manchester City’s problems.
The 19-year-old Brazilian, who was signed from Palmeiras, finally became available on Thursday and manager Guardiola will make a late decision if he will feature against Mauricio Pochettino’s title challengers.
Jesus’ arrival has generated excitement, particularly because of praise from some of Brazilian luminaries such as Pele, Romario and Rivaldo, and he has been touted for greatness.
But Guardiola has counselled against expecting too much, too soon from the forward as he said an inexperienced player requires patience.
Jesus has been training with his new teammates but Guardiola feels it is harder for him to slot right in than if he had joined in pre-season.
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“He is fit, he is ready to be involved in the squad but I am going to decide late [if he plays],” he said. “He is a young player, 19 years old, so we cannot think he is going to solve our problems.
“It would be easier if he could have arrived at the beginning of the season. Now is the middle of the season with not too many training sessions. But he is smart and has quality and is going to help us.”
Guardiola was pictured having a meal with another City attacker, Sergio Aguero, this week but deflected suggestions it was about a new deal.
“He has already a long contract here. He has a lot of money and want to invite his coach to have dinner. That is what it is,” Guardiola said jokingly.
Apart from saying players needed to accept responsibility, he declined to discuss his out-of-form goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, who conceded four goals from as many shots on target at Everton last week and has been beaten 14 times from the last 22 shots on target.
But he was more effusive about Mauricio Pochettino’s team, who were the first side to beat City this season, as he revealed he loves to watch Tottenham.
He singled out Pochettino for particular praise for the positional play he has implemented and the understanding he has generated.
“They play how he wants,” Guardiola said. “It is a really good team, strong physically, with good build-up, good quality between the lines with [Christian] Eriksen and Dele Alli. They have physical and technical full backs with [Danny] Rose and [Kyle] Walker. It is a real good team. They play attractive.
“Their positional game is really good. It is quite similar to Chelsea but they have some different movements. The players are in good positions and the ball goes there. All of them know exactly where the players are and the positional game is the most difficult thing.
“To create that, you need time, and you need to understand that and to see where the spaces are and the quality to move in the spaces. And of course they are able to run, [to make] runs in behind and on the counter-attack. They are really playing good. As a fan of football, I love to see them.”
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