Man City striker Gabriel Jesus has labelled Chelsea one of the 'best teams in the world' as the Blues join Arsenal and Real Madrid in the transfer race to sign their Romelu Lukaku replacement.
The Blues are now preparing for the worst-case scenario with their club-record signing seemingly hellbent on securing an early return to Inter Milan. Although a difficult transfer operation to conduct, Blues owner Todd Boehly is set to meet with manager Thomas Tuchel and the player himself to speak about where things go from this point.
As confirmed by Italian transfer guru Gianluca di Marzio, the 29-year-old himself has put in the groundwork for a while to try and seal his dream Serie A return. Consequently, Chelsea need to prepare for life without the Belgian ahead of 2022/23. According to The Athletic, Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez, Benfica's Darwin Nunez and Lille's Jonathan David are seen as viable options by the new Blues board but Martinez wants to stay put in Italy whilst there is stiff competition for both latter options of the trio.
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With other options still being considered in the striking position including internal ones like giving Armando Broja the mandate to rotate with Kai Havertz in the number 9 spot, it's all to play for regarding who will spearhead Tuchel's attack in the forthcoming future.
That's where Arsenal-linked Jesus comes into the equation. Despite constant speculation of the Brazilian being destined for a move to north London amid reports of personal terms being agreed with Mikel Arteta's side, the Blues and Champions League winners Real Madrid are looking to join the race for a player whose destiny in Manchester has been sealed by the Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland acquisitions.
Multiple Spanish reports including from the likes of Diario AS and SPORT have reported that the west Londoners have now joined the race for the 25-year-old. Chelsea and Real Madrid have the advantage over the Gunners in the Jesus chase already with the fact that both will be competing in the Champions League next season.
Most importantly though, Man City's number 9 has already hinted at who he will choose between Tuchel and Arteta with his 'best team' admission. After scoring in City's 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge last season, he made a big statement regarding the acumen surrounding the European Champions at the time.
"We come to play one of the best teams in the world - the champions of Europe. They play so good and have some amazing players, so we know it's going to be difficult for us," he told BT Sport after the victory.
Chelsea and Arsenal fans - how much do you want to see your respective clubs pay for Gabriel Jesus this summer? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!
