Jesus notches first City hat-trick as he proves his worth to Guardiola

The black marker pen came out inside Manchester City’s dressing room, all of them scribbling messages on Gabriel Jesus’s match ball. Ruben Dias simply wrote ‘Gabrielaaa’. One of the others read ‘Vamos, Pele!’.

High praise, and something accidentally poetic, in mentioning the name of a man ridiculously obsessed with the legacy of his goal record for someone who regularly battles introspection.

Clutching that ball as he bounded out of the Etihad’s front doors, on a day he took his season’s Premier League tally from three to seven, Jesus looked refreshed.

There is a lot going on with him at the moment — he may not be in Manchester for too much longer — but this was an afternoon he could motion up to his private box in celebration at a hat-trick and take the plaudits from a peppy Bernardo Silva at full-time.

And he will look ahead to tomorrow’s Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid fancying himself to be in Pep Guardiola’s XI.

Jesus often sits on the bench but then often gets called upon for really big occasions. His crowning performances in a City shirt both came against Real in 2020, particularly when debuting in a disciplined left-wing position during a statement victory at the Bernabeu.

He is selfless and happy to play anywhere, so much so that he is apparently a wildcard option to start at right back in the absence of Joao Cancelo and Kyle Walker tomorrow.

He does much more for this team than merely score goals, which he has not done enough for someone with his talent, obvious when fluffing a one-on-one against Liverpool in the FA Cup this month.

‘Sometimes you (look back on) performances because of the goals, but sometimes you don’t score goals and play well,’ said Jesus, summing up himself perfectly. ‘But I