Manchester City: Too soon to believe in Ronaldinho’s hype for Gabriel Jesus
“Next Neymar”? Try “next Messi,” or even better, don’t make the comparison for Manchester City forward Gabriel Jesus just quite yet.
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Ronaldinho recently made headlines Wednesday, asserting his belief in Manchester City teenager Gabriel Jesus‘ ceiling. It’s a high ceiling.
“Next Neymar”? Try “next best player in the world.”
Don’t get me wrong: It’s an exciting notion to entertain. The name certainly doesn’t help. “Gabriel” means “God’s strength” and “Jesus” is Jesus. Messianic expectations are bound to follow, especially in a football crazy nation like Brazil. But c’mon, Ronaldinho, it’s a little too early for those sort of expectations.
Must I remind everyone Jesus has done nothing — well, next to nothing. Winning the gold medal in the Olympics doesn’t count. Leading Palmeiras to the Brazilian domestic league title is something, but it’s like a good job interview; he doesn’t have the gig yet. He has to run rampant on defenses in the England for a while, and that broken metatarsal prevents that audition despite the brief fantastic start Gabriel Jesus has had thus far.
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Plus, there’s Sergio Aguero, 156 goals in a City kit. Recorded as recently as 2015, there’s that goal-every-109 minutes clip at which he scores. It’s the best ever in the Premier League.
That sort of goalscoring doesn’t grow on trees. I’m not saying Jesus can’t do that. But he needs to prove that he can be comparable to be a worthy successor to Aguero at least. Then put him in the best in the world debate.
Lastly, the current best players in the world, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, their skill sets don’t cater to a direct comparison with Jesus’. Messi’s a No. 10. Ronaldo’s a winger that doubles as a center forward. Jesus is a pure goalscorer. If Jesus grows to be the best forward in the world, it’s not clear that would make him the world’s best player in the same sense of respect Messi and Ronaldo command.
So everyone cool the jets. That includes you, Ronaldinho. Besides, praise from Ronaldinho comes from a could-have-been, a great player who’s career was cut short. In an eerie, ironic way, maybe prophecies from him don’t bode well.
So let’s just wait and see how things turn out.