Football
ESPN staff 7y

Man City's Gabriel Jesus adapted 'very easily' to Prem - Fernandinho

Manchester City midfielder Fernandinho has been impressed with Gabriel Jesus' easy adaptation to Premier League football, and revealed the 20-year-old striker has got some "star" in him after an encouraging first five months with club.

Gabriel scored the fifth goal in City's 5-0 victory over Watford on Sunday to take his tally to seven in just 11 appearances following his £27 million move from Palmeiras in January.

The Brazil No. 9 told reporters on Monday he was surprised with how quickly he's taken to life in England's top flight, but his teammate Fernandinho told ESPN FC that Gabriel came to Manchester with the necessary qualities to succeed quickly.

"Gabriel, he adapted very easily because he's strong, he knows exactly how to use his body to fight with the defenders, to protect the ball," Fernandinho said in an exclusive interview. "He's fast, and he has the quality to score goals."

Gabriel rose to international prominence while playing for Brazil in their World Cup qualifiers last year. At just 19, he scored five goals and provided four assists in six matches for the Selecao, helping his country rise from sixth place in the CONMEBOL table to becoming the first non-host nation to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

Fernandinho said Gabriel's reputation preceded him among his teammates at the Etihad.

"Yeah, everyone was asking me: How is Gabriel? How good is he?" he said. "Because you know he's young ... everyone wants to know how it's possible a 19-year-old player plays six games for the national team and scores five goals.

"And he should be a top player, and I said: 'Keep calm, keep calm. You'll see his quality. He's a very good player. He's a top scorer, and when he joins us he'll just show his quality.' 

"After the first month, he got injured, but after the injury he came back and is still showing us quality, you know, ability and I'm happy for him."

Left-back Aleksandar Kolarov admitted Gabriel has been a pleasant surprise since joining City, telling ESPN FC: "Yeah, he's been brilliant, it's impressive that he's just 19 years old and had such a great impact in the Premier League. We know how difficult it is to play here and he's a big professional and honestly I'm really happy and surprised how he had a great impact in our club."

Gabriel quickly relegated longtime City striker Sergio Aguero to the bench upon his arrival in Manchester, causing many to question the Argentine's future at the club. However, the two played together in City's thrashing of Watford at the weekend, each providing an assist for the other in a dominating display.

"He's got some star," Fernandinho said of Gabriel. "He's got unbelievable luck to score goals, and of course to play alongside Aguero, it's good to see, to watch both of them playing together and trying to make some combinations.

He added: "And the both of them have quality to score goals and give assists and they show that when they play together. And especially in that last game: Gabriel gives [an] assist to Kun [Aguero], Kun gives [an] assist to Gabriel and I really enjoy to play alongside both and I hope they can improve more, getting better and getting better, and of course win titles -- the most important thing."

City defender Vincent Kompany said the two forwards playing together is a handful for any defence.

"Well first of all we don't need to be completely focused on the fact that there is competition in this team," Kompany said. "It's normal, so if both of them have to battle it out for a spot let it be but it's been good to see.

"I mean Jesus is obviously a lot younger so it's good that he's able to be flexible and he's able to go left, right and down the middle but obviously if they start scoring, both, when they play together like they did against Watford then it's a formidable striking force and it must be daunting for the other teams to know that those two guys will play together."

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