Gabriel Jesus sends message to Pep Guardiola with latest Brazil performance

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Manchester City star Gabriel Jesus may have just boosted his future starting prospects at the Etihad Stadium having caught the eye as a winger for Brazil on international duty.

The 22-year-old took up an unnatural wide right position against Nigeria, with Roberto Firmino deployed through the middle.

The low-quality game finished 1-1 in Singapore, but Jesus caught the eye for the five-time World Cup winners.

The star was problematic for Nigeria and worked the channel well. He also sought to move infield to support Firmino where he could.

Jesus has been shunted out wide quite often in recent times for Brazil – at the Copa America he was relatively effective.

He also featured several times in the role for Palmeiras before his £27 million move to City (Sky Sports).

Pep Guardiola may not want to know, but perhaps the youngster could be a genuine option to feature out wide for his club.

TBR’s view

As he recently informed Esporte Interativo, Jesus wants to increase his game time at the Etihad, but it’s difficult given there’s a world-class striker ahead of him in Sergio Aguero.

Guardiola’s preferred system uses just one striker, with wide players either side.

Perhaps Jesus would have an easier task replacing Riyad Mahrez in the starting XI, although the Algerian has made a brilliant start to the new season and deserves a run of games. Bernardo Silva can also operate out wide so it is still tough.

At least, he has shown that he has the capacity to play out of position which surely increases his prospects of starting more games at club level.