Gab seeks advice from Brazil legend in his bid to bounce back

GABRIEL Jesus has turned to Brazil legend Ronaldo for advice as he battles back from his knee injury.

The City striker was originally expected to return to the Blues squad in time for this week’s Champions League clash with Basel, but he is now pencilled in to return to training next week at the earliest.

The medial collateral ligament injury has affected Jesus more than first thought, and he has admitted it has troubled him mentally as well as physically.

But Jesus has now signed up to a sports marketing agency headed by Ronaldo, who missed almost three years of his career through injury, principally a ruptured knee tendon.

The two Brazil internationals met at Neymar’s birthday party in Paris last week, and have spoken regularly on the phone, partly about dealing with the mental stress of being injured.

Jesus has been asking Ronaldo for advice on his recovery, but the fact that it is taking longer than first thought is explained by his statement to Globo newspaper last week: “I’m better, every day better, recovering well. I put it in my head that I have to recover well and not fast.

“The knee is a very complicated part, even more so as I’ve never had an injury there. I need to recover well, treat it well, and take good care of myself. ”

And he added at the weekend: “I’m hitting the ball a little bit already. I missed that a lot, but I’m still a little scared.

“I think that in a week I’ll spend more days hitting the ball. I think I’m losing the fear. I think that in a short time I will train with the group again.”