Arsenal star Gabriel Jesus has ruthlessly trolled team-mate Oleksandr Zinchenko. The striker shared a joke at the defender’s expense during the Gunners’ pre-season tour in the USA.
Jesus and Zinchenko go way back having spent five-and-a-half years together at Manchester City. The pair both made the move to Arsenal in the summer of 2022 and became firm fan favourites in their debut campaigns in north London.
Arsenal spent 10 days in the USA where they played three friendlies as they gear up for the new Premier League season. Jesus and Zinchenko enjoyed some downtime with the club’s media team.
They were asked to play a game where they each had to answer a question within five seconds. However, it was interrupted by a nearby siren in the area.
There was silence for a couple of seconds as they waited for the siren to drown out. But Jesus then tapped Zinchenko and joked: “Your taxi!”
The Brazilian then burst into laughter at his team-mate’s expense. Zinchenko appeared to take it well as he broke into a smile.
Zinchenko had trolled Jesus earlier in the interview. He was asked to name three teams Jesus had scored against last season.
The Ukrainian joked that there weren’t many, replying: “Wolverhampton… that’s it.”
Jesus returned the dig, pointing out Zinchenko’s lack of goals. He said: “He wants to joke! Don’t ask me this [for Zinchenko] because I only know one – Aston Villa! That’s it. A deflection.”
Zinchenko struggled with injuries at times during his first season at Arsenal. He is yet to feature in pre-season due to a muscular problem.
A year after joining, the 26-year-old explained how he was made to feel welcome after signing. Zinchenko said: “It’s been a pleasure during all this time since I arrived.
“I knew obviously Gabi and also Mikel [Arteta] and a couple of lads as well in the team. The adaptation was not too hard at all, the guys helped me a lot. The energy of the fans as well from the first game, so I felt something special and I felt really at home.”
Jesus joked he played a part in Zinchenko following him to the Emirates from the Etihad. He said: “I was the agent!
“It was good when I heard he could come. I said ‘it would be amazing’ because I knew his quality of course.”