Brazil star Gabriel Jesus reveals why he rejected other clubs for Manchester City

Gabriel Jesus has revealed that a call from Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola convinced him to make a switch to the Etihad.

The Premier League club agreed to a deal with Palmeiras for the Brazil international in the summer of 2016. The 20-year-old moved to England earlier this January and has been in fine form for the Manchester outfit.

Jesus' form for Palmeiras, coupled with his impressive display for Brazil to help his national side win gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics saw him attract interest from the top clubs across Europe. Real Madrid, their league rivals Barcelona, City and Manchester United were all interested in securing the striker's services.

City midfielder Fernandinho confirmed in February that Jesus snubbed advances from Real and Barcelona before joining the English club. The attacker has revealed that he had offers from other top clubs, but Guardiola's personal touch convinced him to join the Citizens.

"Guardiola called me up and said I would be a very important part of his project," Jesus told FourFourTwo.

"This obviously made me feel wanted and was a big factor in helping me pick City as my next club. There had been a lot of clubs interested in signing me at the time, but the one I felt most confident in was City."

Guardiola was waiting for the South American star at the club's training ground when Jesus arrived in Manchester in January 2017. Jesus was surprised to see the Catalan manager wait for him, especially when the training session was already completed in the morning.

"When I landed in Manchester, I came straight to the training ground – I didn't even go to my hotel. He wanted me there. It was 6pm and training had been in the morning, but Pep waited for me to arrive. I realised he's a different kind of manager," he explained.