Brazilian soccer star Gabriel Jesus revealed he decided to leave Manchester City after coach Pep Guardiola made him cry by not starting him in a 2021 Champions League match.
Jesus made the revelation on an episode of the “Denilson Show” podcast in early July.
“There was a Champions League game, PSG, at home, in which he put [Oleksandr] Zinchenko as a false 9. Crazy thing,” Jesus said. “The day before, he didn’t even use [Zinchenko] in training, he had put me in as a striker. … Zinchenko even joked with me: ‘That day I felt bad for you.’
Pep Guardiola’s team selection made Gabriel Jesus cry 😥 pic.twitter.com/TdjKeFpuey
— GOAL (@goal) July 6, 2023
“[Guardiola] told us the team, I didn’t even eat. I went straight to the room, crying, I called my mother to talk: ‘I want to leave.’ I’m going home, because he put [Zinchenko] on, and he didn’t put me on. He put a left-back there. I went crazy,” Jesus continued.
Jesus replaced Zinchenko later in the match, providing the assist on the equalizer and scoring a late goal to secure a 2-1 win for City.
But Jesus referred to his apparent exclusion from the starting lineup during the home game against Paris Saint-Germain as the “turning point” in his City career. (RELATED: Head Coach Of Paris Saint-Germain Arrested For Allegedly Complaining About Number Of Black And Muslim Players)
“That’s when I decided, I didn’t want to stay anymore. And I decided to leave,” he said.
After leaving City in Summer 2022, the Brazil international joined Arsenal, where he scored 11 goals and assisted seven in 26 matches during his first season. Jesus said moving to Arsenal made him feel “free.”