Fernandinho has warned it will take Gabriel Jesus time to settle at Manchester City, despite his outstanding start to life in English football.
Fresh from helping Brazil to Olympic gold and Palmeiras to the championship, the 19-year-old is now looking to build on such success at the Etihad Stadium.
January arrival Jesus has hit the ground running and scored three goals in four appearances, including City’s last-gasp winner against Swansea at the weekend.
Brazil and City team-mate Fernandinho has been as impressed by the attacker as anyone, but warned that a drop-off at some point is only natural. “He has been a professional footballer for just two years, so he is starting very, very, very young,” the midfielder said.
“We were happy for his incredible performances for the national team and for his club, where he won a few titles, and now he has come here and started to score goals. I hope he can keep that level at least until the end of the season.
“As a young player you can sometimes drop your level. He can play amazing, but he is good because his mentality is good, on the same level all the time – he is stable.
No animosity
“We can help him stay at this level until the end of the season, and if he does everyone will be happy. If he scores more goals for us, I’ll be the first to be happy.”
Goalkeeper Willy Caballero insists there is no animosity between him and Claudio Bravo after he replaced the Chilean in Manchester City's starting line-up.
After several high-profile fumbles and questions over his handling under pressure, Bravo lost his place to Caballero in recent weeks, having failed to convince during his debut season at the Etihad Stadium so far.
“It’s not been an easy week for him but his behaviour is fantastic,” Caballero, who started his third successive match in Sunday’s 2-1 home win over Swansea, told British media.
“He supports me and we are working really hard and he has a competitive mind, so he’s doing very well.
‘Fantastic keeper’
“Claudio is a fantastic player, a fantastic keeper and we have to respect him because he is probably the keeper with more titles in his country in the last two years.”
Caballero said he was relishing being City’s first-choice keeper, no matter how long it might last. “I was always waiting for the cup but now I am ready for every single game. The boss [Pep Guardiola] took a decision and I try to enjoy every single day,” he said.
“I accepted it immediately, I loved it immediately and I tried to do my best during the game. I will try to work really hard for the rest of the week, but he always makes the decisions for the team.”
City, who are third in the Premier League, 10 points behind leaders Chelsea after 24 games, travel to face 14th-placed Bournemouth on Monday.
