Thursday gossip

David Clayton@dclayton_MCFC

Jesus wants to follow in Neymar's footsteps

Plenty to go at this morning despite the international break.
Gabriel Jesus explains how Sergio Aguero can help him follow in Neymar’s footsteps while also warning that it would be foolish for anyone to write the Premier League champions out of the title race.
Plus, Rodri explains how his ‘workaholic’ boss is talking his game to a new level and Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi reveals the City star who has – and still is - inspiring him.

Player quotes
Sport 360: Jesus’ lofty target for Brazil
It reads: “Neymar will be absent again through injury, but Jesus says the Paris Saint-Germain front-man, who has 61 goals in 101 games for his country, has set the benchmark for him.
‘Of course, for me, the dream is to follow what he has achieved,’ said Jesus, who has 18 goals in his 37 caps.
‘To do that, getting 100 caps, scoring the most goals… But I know I have to work hard in every game, every training session for City, for Brazil. And I know I have to score goals.
‘I am also learning at City to do this, working with Sergio. He’s a top, top player, the record scorer for the club and I can only learn from him. He scores almost every game.
‘I am only 22 and I know I need to improve more, but that’s what I want to do.
“Without Neymar for Brazil, you have to look at everyone to step up, not just me. And Brazil have a lot of big players, not just Neymar.
‘He is No 1 for Brazil of course, but we have a lot of big players in the world and we can play well, even if he is not with us."

And there’s more from our young Brazilian – this time on the title race…
HITC: Jesus warning for Liverpool
The report says: The City No.9 says the Blues have chased down the title before and can do it again…
He said: ‘There are 26 matches left and that’s a long way out even to think who will win the Premier League," the £27 million striker (Sky Sports) said.
‘Liverpool are playing really well. They were beaten only once last season but we will take them on and keep fighting for the title again.
‘We will try to do our maximum and we will recover. We know we have the capacity to do this. Obviously, we want to win the championship."

Goal: Rodri says Pep is taking his game to new levels
They write: “Speaking at a news conference ahead of his country's concluding Euro 2020 qualifiers against Malta and Romania, Rodri conceded he is enduring a fairly steep learning curve.
‘I haven't been there much time, but since the beginning of the season I have added a lot of new knowledge," he said.
‘[Guardiola] is how he shows himself in front of the cameras. He has a competitive edge, this desire to put pressure on the rivals, to study and analyse how to harm them. He is a workaholic, he dedicates the 24 hours of the day to his players, to himself and to find the way to win matches.
‘At an individual level, it has helped me a lot that he played in the same position than me. He gives me lots of advice on how he sees football. I am growing a lot, not only tactically, but individually in many aspects I wasn't aware that a central midfielder should have, like driving the ball – something that is demanded in the Premier League.

‘Obviously there are more factors than the coach that have an influence, but we have the best coach in that sense.’

Opposition View
Finally this morning, some nice comments from Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi…
Daily Mail: Raheem is my idol
The story reads: “Callum Hudson-Odoi, speaking to Sky Sports, said: 'Someone like Raheem is like an idol to me. The position he plays, and what he's doing for club and country, is an amazing thing, which I will try to replicate myself.
'It's an amazing feeling to have someone like him doing what he's doing and being around you every time. I want to keep learning off what he does.
'Raheem's a very nice guy, very encouraging, very positive about everything he does. When I first came in, I didn't expect him to be so nice.
'Of course, he's a nice person but when you see somebody always welcoming you, just talking to you, giving you advice on how he plays and just being around you a lot, it makes you feel so welcome in the team.
'He's a big leader in the team because he's a very top player, he's in club and country playing every game, working really hard, scoring a lot of goals.'

That’s all for this morning – but we’ll have plenty more on mancity.com throughout the day