We continue our top 100 players 21 and under with the World Class category. These players are grouped by talents who who are capable of one day challenging for the Ballon d’Or. 

Name: Gabriel Jesus

Club: Manchester City

Age: 21

Position: Forward

Strengths: Attacking movement, versatility, work ethic, dribbling, pace

Weaknesses: Overcomplicating, inconsistency, confidence player

Style: The dust-caked pitches of Sao Paulo are where Gabriel Jesus quite literally made a name for himself. Any time his team were in need of a goal he’d cry ‘Tetinha!’ – which translates as ‘easy-peasy’ – and it was by that word he became known. It was just so in his first six months with Manchester City, made all the more remarkable by the often uneasy relationship that boys from Brazil have with life on English shores. Here was a Samba star that already seemed attuned to the rhythm of the Premier League, bouncing off tacklers and proving that o jogo bonito can indeed be made of sterner stuff. His decision-making for one so young – he was 19 at the time of joining City in January 2017 – appeared preternatural, instinctively knowing when to forage on the flanks or steal into the box to claim an extraordinary amount of tap-ins. The past tense with much of this must be used for now, as Jesus has not quite been the same player since injuring a knee ligament at the end of 2017. He himself has admitted that some of the joyful abandon disappeared through fear of another issue.

What’s been said about him:

Ronaldo (Il Fenomeno): “I’m a fan of Gabriel as I look at him and see myself when I was younger. I see many similarities between us.”

Neymar: “Gabriel Jesus is a crack, a phenomenon. As well as being at the highest level on the pitch, off the pitch he is exceptional, too.”

Pep Guardiola on his 2018/19 form: “His movement, his first high press is the best in the world but he’s still young and young players have a gap to improve. We are going to help him in the final third, to take decisions, to find spaces.”

Forecast for 2019: Sergio Aguero was once an endangered species around the Etihad Stadium with Jesus on the prowl, but it has been lean hunting for the 21-year-old so far this season. Raheem Sterling, Aguero and Leroy Sane is Pep Guardiola’s go-to forward line and for a player who is fuelled so much by confidence, it may take a run of games before he makes it all look ‘Tetinha’ again. A goal for Brazil against Saudi Arabia in October – after which Neymar came out in support of the embattled entertainer – is a starting point. It should also be remembered that Selecao coach Tite never once dropped Jesus during the World Cup despite the presence of Roberto Firmino. There are few young players worth persevering with more.