Arsenal supporters are waiting, Gabriel Jesus is waiting. By all accounts, this £45m summer transfer has been finalised and it's just an official announcement that remains.
There was a theory that the Brazilian was going to be confirmed as the Gunners' fourth signing of the summer so far - after Marquinhos, Fabio Vieira and Matt Turner - on Friday, July 1 especially as the club posted a tweet about a former number 9 in Lukas Podolski.
This was seen a subtle hint with regards to Arsenal preparing a big announcement for Gabriel Jesus as he's already been spotted wearing the no.9 shirt - recently vacated by Alexandre Lacazette following the expiry of his contract and subsequent return to Lyon - at the Emirates Stadium.
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Furthermore, with the north London outfit removing their pinned tweet on Friday, many supporters were expecting the transfer to be confirmed. But still, they wait and there's no real indication as to when the deal will be announced.
Given Mikel Arteta's side fly out to Germany in the coming days for a pre-season friendly against FC Nurnberg on July 8 at the Max-Morlock Stadion, the Gabriel Jesus transfer must be confirmed beforehand if he's to make his non-competitive debut against the second division Bundesliga side.
Just like Arsenal fans, it's a waiting game for the Brazilian too and it would appear that he is passing the time by being active on social media. Although, it hasn't been to discuss his imminent move, but rather to update his followers on his training regime as he prepares for pre-season.
As seen in the two images below via the striker's Instagram Stories, during the time that the Gunners have seemingly been preparing an announcement for their latest summer signing, the 25-year-old has been doing some work with personal trainer Andre Cunha at a park.
The second image may be interpreted as a cryptic message as there is a football on the pitch with Gabriel Jesus wearing his boots and the caption includes a ball, raised and prayer hands as the three emojis. Perhaps the striker can't wait to start pre-season training with his new club?
What is for certain is that when the striker is officially a member of Arteta's first-team squad he will predominately operate as a centre-forward despite being able to play out wide: "In a most literal sense, yes Gabriel Jesus will be a number nine as that's the shirt number Arsenal are going to give him," football.london's Kaya Kaynak said in a Q&A session this week.
"Mikel Arteta is a fan of versatility among his strike force though and has shown this in the past. Even a player like Eddie Nketiah, who is about as archetypal of a centre forward as it's possible to get, has played on the left at times. Jesus has played on the wings for City, so that is another plus to his signing.
"However, when it comes to Jesus it's worth noting how important this winter's World Cup could be in his thinking. When it comes to the wing positions, Brazil are relatively stacked with players like Vinicius Jr., Raphinha, Rodrygo, and of course Gabriel Martinelli. There is less competition in the centre forward position (even if there are still some admittedly excellent players at Tite's disposal there).
"If Jesus can prove himself as a number nine his chances of playing there in Qatar could go through the roof. That could represent a real redemption arc for him after his traumatic experience in Russia 2018, where he was crucified by the Brazilian press for failing to score a goal as the starting national team striker in a World Cup."
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