Arsenal leading race to sign Gabriel Jesus with Man City confident £50m valuation will be met

Arsenal are in pole position to sign Gabriel Jesus with Manchester City confident their £50 million valuation of the Brazil striker will be met.

Mikel Arteta has made signing Jesus, with whom he worked at City, one of his priorities this summer and talks over a deal are advancing.

Arsenal are thought to have proposed a fee of around £30 million during initial discussions with City but were told they would have to raise their offer significantly amid plentiful interest in the player, who has a year left on his contract.

Tottenham have also shown interest in Jesus, who has also been offered to Chelsea and Real Madrid, and City believe £50 million is a fair price for a 25-year-old with his best years ahead of him, a proven track record in the Premier League and 19 goals in 56 appearances for Brazil. Arsenal are not expected to pay a flat fee of £50m and any deal would include performance-related add-ons, but City want a package valuing that amount.

Jesus wants to move in pursuit of more regular football after accepting that his opportunities are likely to be more limited following the arrival of forwards Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez at City.

Jack Grealish, a £100m signing from Aston Villa last summer, is also expected to play a more prominent role under Pep Guardiola next season.

Jesus scored 13 goals and laid on 12 assists in all competitions for City last season and played an important role during the run-in. Arteta believes he would be a huge asset to Arsenal given that the Brazilian can play across the front line and has proven a popular, dependable, hard-working member of City’s squad.

Arteta knows Jesus well from their time at City, where the Spaniard spent three years as Guardiola’s No 2 before becoming Arsenal