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Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus was reportedly interested in joining city rivals Chelsea in the recently-concluded summer transfer window.
After a fruitful five-and-a-half-year stint with Manchester City, Jesus was in search of a new adventure earlier this summer. Pep Guardiola was prepared to let the Brazilian leave following Erling Haaland's arrival at the Etihad Stadium.
With Jesus in the final year of his contract, a host of clubs across Europe were in pursuit of the striker. Despite interest from European giants such as Real Madrid and Juventus, he chose to join Arsenal for a fee in the region of £45 million at the start of July this year.
As per The Athletic, Jesus was strongly interested in signing for Chelsea before arriving at the Emirates Stadium. The new ownership at Stamford Bridge advocated a move for Jesus but former Blues boss Thomas Tuchel decided against signing a striker at the time.
However, Tuchel did change his stance a few days later and was left frustrated that Todd Boehly and other co-owners didn't go all out to acquire Jesus' services. The Gunners, on the other hand, sealed a move for the former Palmeiras man on a five-year deal.
Since his arrival in north London, Jesus has been a revelation for Mikel Arteta's side. He has netted three times and contributed as many assists in six Premier League matches so far this season. The Brazilian has effectively filled the first-team void left by Alexandre Lacazette.
The Gunners have also made four other additions to their squad this summer. The club roped in Oleksandr Zinchenko, Fabio Vieira, Matt Turner and Marquinhos for a combined sum of around £72 million.
Arsenal are currently atop the Premier League standings with 15 points from six games, one point ahead of champions Manchester City. The club will next host Everton on Sunday (September 11).
Paul Merson predicts outcomes of Arsenal and Chelsea's weekend fixtures
In his column for Sportskeeda, former Gunners midfielder Paul Merson predicted a win for his former club and a draw for Chelsea, who appointed Graham Potter as their new head coach on Thursday (September 8).
Predicting a 2-0 win for the north London outfit, he wrote:
"Everton will come to the Emirates to sit back and defend, but I fancy Arsenal to eventually break them down. Despite their position on the points table, I think Frank Lampard's doing a good job at Everton."
As for the Blues' encounter with Fulham, he added:
"I'm going for a 2-2 draw here. Chelsea are letting in a lot of goals and Fulham have started the season well. If there ever was a chance for Fulham to get a famous result against Chelsea, it's this Saturday morning!"
