The agent of new Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus has revealed that Chelsea tried with a last-ditch attempt to hijack the Brazilian's move.
The 25-year-old completed his move to the Gunners for a fee of around £45m on July 4, and has since gone on to score two goals on his debut for the club during their 5-3 win over Nuremberg in a pre-season friendly.
Fellow Premier League side Chelsea were also said to be interested in acquiring Jesus' signature from champions Manchester City this summer, following the exit of Romelu Lukaku.
This prompted Thomas Tuchel's side to make an attempt to snatch the Brazil international away from Arsenal as it neared its completion according to the player's agent, Marcelo Pettinati.
The striker's representative told journalist Freddie Paxton in an interview: "Chelsea were one of the teams that tried to hijack the Arsenal move. They tried very hard in the final days to get him. By that point, we'd already chosen our new project."
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, who worked with Jesus during his spell as Pep Guardiola's assistant at the Etihad Stadium, was reportedly one of the biggest influences in the striker's decision to make the move to the Emirates Stadium over Chelsea.
After missing out on Jesus, Chelsea instead swooped in to sign his former teammate Raheem Sterling from Man City in a deal worth around £50m instead, as Tuchel pushes ahead with plans to revamp his forward line ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.
Matthew Tranter
