Former Southampton and Everton striker James Beattie believes that Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola did a big favour to Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta with the deals for Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko last summer.
City took a bit of a gamble by letting these two useful squad players leave, and they’ve gone on to become hugely important to Arsenal, who are now sitting top of the Premier League table and possibly looking surprise favourites for the title.
It’s possible that Guardiola didn’t see Arsenal as too much of a threat before the start of the season, so allowed Jesus and Zinchenko to move to the Emirates Stadium as a bit of a favour to Arteta, who worked as his assistant at the Etihad Stadium before taking on his first managerial job with the Gunners.
Beattie would like to see Arsenal win the title, but he admits he thinks Guardiola gave Arteta a pretty big helping hand by selling two top players to him.
“It remains to be seen whether Gabriel Jesus’ return will prove to be the decisive factor in this title race, but already, since his comeback, you can see just how hungry he is to get in among the goals and help his team out. He’s taken his game to a different level and we’re seeing a side to him which, perhaps, we didn’t really see at Man City, and it’s only been of benefit to Arsenal so far,” Beattie exclusively told Ladbrokes Fanzone.
“He’s so difficult for defenders to play against because he’s unselfish, he’s quick both on and off the ball, and he’s got an eye for a goal. He’s exactly the kind of player you want to return to your team at this point in the season, but then again Manchester City haven’t exactly ended up with a bad replacement for him, have they?
“You wonder what sort of conversations took place over the summer to allow Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko to leave City for Arsenal. I almost think Pep [Guardiola] has allowed the pair of them to leave as a favour for a mate in Mikel [Arteta]!
“You wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case, and I don’t think Pep is necessarily kicking himself for letting them leave, because of the sheer strength in depth he’s got available to him. If both lads were only going to play small parts for City this season, then Pep’s done the right thing for everyone involved. Would he have expected Arsenal to be in a title race with him this season? Probably not, but for that, I honestly think he’d think ‘fair play’.
“And, again, Mikel deserves a lot of credit, first of all for using his links and relationship with City, then for identifying the kind of players who’d fit straight into his team and his vision, and then for getting the best out of them straight from the first game this season.
“But, ultimately, it’s those lads, Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus, who deserve most of the credit, because they’re the ones who’ve made the move, added something new to Arsenal and delivered. Any kind of feeling they may have had in the summer, perhaps around not feeling wanted or needed at City, they’ve channelled it into a positive and used it as motivation, and both have done an incredible job up to this point.”
On the title race in general, Beattie added: “I think a lot of people will rightly think that Man City still have a great chance of winning the title, but both them and Arsenal are heading into this run-in in completely different situations.
“Arsenal know exactly what they’ve got ahead of them; no cup competitions, so it’s nine straight games, it’s in their hands and they know what they need to do to win the league. City are still going strong on all fronts, and could end up playing twice as many games as Arsenal if they were to make the final of the FA Cup and the Champions League.
“Of course, Pep will want to go after all three trophies, and he has the depth within his squad to do so, but if he favours one competition in particular over another, then he may see one of those other competitions as an opportunity to rest a few first-team players. It’ll be interesting to see what happens between now and then, but, like I’ve said before, I’d love for Mikel to win it.”
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