Barcelona complete signing of Gabriel Jesus

Barcelona have completed the permanent signing of Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus after the forward completed his medical on Monday. The move to the Catalan club was confirmed on Tuesday, with earlier reports saying a fee of £8.6m (10m euros) was close to being agreed.

Jesus had fallen down the pecking order at Arsenal in recent seasons, in part because of injury issues, and because Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres had been the preferred central strikers. Napoli had also shown an interest in the Brazilian before Barcelona concluded the deal.

BBC Sport reported that a deal for Jesus to move to Barcelona for a fee of £8.6m (10m euros) was close to being confirmed. The club have completed the signing on a permanent basis following that agreement.

Jesus joined Arsenal from Manchester City in 2022 and, during his time with the Gunners, scored 32 goals and provided 22 assists in 123 appearances. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told the media before Arsenal's win over Aston Villa that Jesus was not training with the squad and, when asked whether that meant the forward was leaving, said: "Personal situations, whatever they are, I think it's clear."

The signing represents Barcelona's third acquisition from the Premier League this summer, following Anthony Gordon from Newcastle and Rodri from Manchester City. Barcelona have also been pursuing a deal for Atletico Madrid striker Julian Alvarez, but Atletico have been clear of their intention to not negotiate with their La Liga rivals; Arsenal have also been chasing Alvarez, though the report says a deal is unlikely to be completed at this stage.

Arsenal have moved other players this window as well, selling Fabio Vieira to Hamburger SV while Ethan Nwaneri is getting closer to completing a loan move to Borussia Dortmund.