When Gabriel Jesus opened the scoring for Manchester City against Crystal Palace last weekend, he became the third-highest scoring Brazilian in Premier League history.
This was also Jesus’ 50th goal in all competitions for Manchester City, and he has now scored in each of his last seven starts for the club.
Since joining City from Palmeiras in January 2017, Jesus has consistently scored goals at a frightening rate. At just 22 years old, he looks set to fly past Philippe Coutinho and chase down Roberto Firmino to become the highest scoring Brazilian player in England’s top-flight.
With Coutinho enjoying life at Bayern Munich and Firmino leaving the goals to Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah at Liverpool, Jesus will surely be eyeing up top spot in the table below.
Roberto Firmino(Liverpool) - 51
Philippe Coutinho(Liverpool) - 41
Gabriel Jesus(Manchester City) - 30
Willian(Chelsea) - 30
Juninho(Middlesbrough) - 29
Oscar(Chelsea) - 21
So far in 2019, Gabriel Jesus has scored 14 goals in 30 appearances. Only Kylian Mbappe, Robert Lewandowski, Lionel Messi and team mate Sergio Aguero have a better minutes-per-goal ratio this year.
On average, Jesus has found the back of the net every 91 minutes in 2019. However, he has often seen his game time limited at Manchester City as he battles Aguero for a place in the starting line-up.
It has not been easy for Gabriel Jesus to get regular minutes since moving from Palmeiras, but this is completely understandable when you consider the strength of Manchester City’s squad. Sergio Aguero is the club’s all-time leading goal scorer, so Jesus cannot expect to simply walk into the team.
View this post on Instagram Great game, lads. Congratulations! Very happy on the 50th goal scored with this jersey. Let's keep moving up! ⚽️🙌🏽🤙🏽 #alômãe #gratidão #doperi A post shared by Gabriel Jesus (@dejesusoficial) on Oct 19, 2019 at 1:04pm PDT
Great game, lads. Congratulations! Very happy on the 50th goal scored with this jersey. Let's keep moving up! ⚽️🙌🏽🤙🏽 #alômãe #gratidão #doperi
A post shared by Gabriel Jesus (@dejesusoficial) on Oct 19, 2019 at 1:04pm PDT
Still, manager Pep Guardiola has certainly given the Brazilian more minutes this season and Jesus is repaying his manager’s trust with a tireless work rate and bags of goals.
Generally, Jesus is better defensively and will work harder for the team, while Aguero is undoubtedly a better finisher. Guardiola often picks one or the other depending on City’s opposition.
With that being said, the gap between the two players in terms of quality is now smaller than ever, and Gabriel Jesus is set to play a starring role for Manchester City this season.
Over the years, the Premier League has been blessed with some of the best Brazilian players of all time.
Gilberto Silva was a rock in the heart of Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ teams, Juninho brought some magic to Middlesbrough, while City truly made their mark on world football when they signed Robinho from Real Madrid.
Gabriel Jesus has already established himself as one of the Premier League’s Brazilian greats, and it’s surely only a matter of time before the striker becomes Brazil’s record goal scorer in England’s top-flight.