Can (Gabriel) Jesus save Manchester City's Premier League title hopes?

At last summer’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the stage was set for Gabriel Jesus to emerge as Brazilian soccer’s newest breakout star. The 19-year-old who was being hailed as the “new Neymar” had penned a five-year contract with Manchester City on the eve of the Games and was expected to provide the goals that would lead Brazil to its first ever Olympic gold medal in soccer.

But when he failed to make an immediate impact in the group stages, he quickly became the poster boy for all that was going wrong with the Brazilians’ early struggles in the tournament – namely a lack of goals.

Eventually, Brazil did catch fire in the knockout rounds and went on to make it to the final at Maracana, beating Germany in a penalty shootout to win the gold. Jesus also came good, scoring three goals in the tournament and making an appearance in the final as a substitute.

Part of City’s $33 million deal for Jesus stipulated that he would remain with his Brazilian club Palmeiras through the end of the domestic season. He did, following up his Olympic triumph by helping the club to its first title since 1994.

Now with the Brasileiro season at last over, Jesus has joined City for the second half of the Premier League season. The excitement has been building in Manchester, where Jesus finally arrived this week and is available to make his debut in Saturday’s big showdown at home against Tottenham Hotspur.

While Premier League audiences haven’t seen much of the striker who grew up playing on concrete pitches in Sao Paulo’s Jardim Peri favela, he arrives having already made an enormous impression back in Brazil.

Brazilian great Ronaldo claims Jesus reminds him of himself. Pele described him as “the best player” Brazil currently has.

With 12 goals and five assists, Jesus is coming off a sensational season with Palmeiras, where in addition to winning the Brazilian title he was named Player of the Year.

Following his triumph with the Olympic under-23 side, Jesus was promoted to Brazil’s senior squad. He made his debut in September, scoring twice against Ecuador. He scored again in his next match against Venezuela and has now notched five goals in six starts for the Seleçao.

While being awarded Brazil’s iconic No. 9 jersey would faze most players, Jesus has thrived in the roll thus far and could be the elite level striker Brazil has been crying out for. Already, his goals and assists have helped relieve pressure on Neymar, a player Brazil has been severely overly reliant in recent years.

The question for Man City fans is whether Jesus can make enough of an impact to help push the Citizens back into title contention.

Pep Guardiola’s team enters the weekend in fifth place and 10 points behind league leader Chelsea. Raheem Sterling, Nolito and Kelechi Iheanacho have all chipped in with goals here and there, but fact is, City’s attack tends to run a little thin when Sergio Aguero is absent. Aguero leads the club with 11 league goals (Sterling is second with five), but the Argentine ace has managed just one goal in his last four Premier League games, prompting the British tabloids to speculate on Aguero’s future with the Sky Blues.

With blistering pace, cool and confident technique in front of goal, and the kind of old-school flair and trickery that isn’t quite as common among Brazilian players as it once was, Jesus fits the bill for the sort of player who could bolster City’s stuttering attack. A seemingly ideal understudy to Aguero in the central striker role, he’s also capable of playing on the wing.

And, having honed his talents in Sao Paulo’s tough amateur leagues, where tackles are often intended to break legs, Jesus is not one of those flair players who shies away from the grittier side of the game. With 11 bookings last season, he was the third-most booked player in the Brazilian top flight and is known as a fierce competitor – strong indications he has the tenacity and toughness to cut it in the Premier League.

Of course, we’ve seen many a promising Brazilian arrive in Europe preordained as a future Ballon d’Or winner, only to see it not quite pan out. And the bottom line is that there are never any guarantees, especially when we’re talking about a player who only made his senior club debut in March of 2015.

But at 19 with an Olympic gold medal, a Copa do Brazil and a Brazilian league title already to his name, Jesus has the pedigree and the potential to make good on his promising start. He has landed at club where he is needed, and in Guardiola, he’ll be working with a manager who is arguably better at developing top-level talent than anyone else in the game.

And the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss has definitely taken an interest.

Jesus reportedly spurned interest from the likes of Barça, Bayern, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid to join City, in part because of a personal phone call from Guardiola.

Of course, it’s not really clear whether anyone will be capable of catching Chelsea this season. And City’s problems certainly run deeper than its misfiring attack. But in Jesus, Guardiola may have found a player capable of adding the extra attacking impetus City has lacked, even with Aguero on the pitch.