Gabriel Jesus admits fellow Premier League star Son Heung-min is a dangerous players with the two set to lock horns on the international stage.
The 22-year-old will lead the line for Brazil on Tuesday when they take on South Korea at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
The South Americans enter this match after Friday’s 1-0 friendly defeat to arch-rivals Argentina in Saudi Arabia, with Lionel Messi scoring the only goal from the penalty spot.
Is Son Korea’s main threat? Stop him and you win the game?
I know Son, I have played a few times against him. He’s a good player, technically amazing and great at finishing. We don’t just have to stop him, every player is dangerous.
Five games without a win for Brazil, how important is the game v Korea?
Of course we want to win every game, but we know that is difficult. Football is like this, it’s not easy. You think you’re going to win and then you don’t but that’s why football is brilliant. I hope we can play well tomorrow and winning the game is the most important thing.
With 18 goals already for Brazil, are your ambitions to be the top Brazilian scorer ever?
It is very difficult, I know the players who have scored a lot and are still playing and will be here for a long time. I hope I can do it but I know it’s hard. Of course I will try every day and every game to score for Brazil.
There is a great fan base for Man City here in the UAE and their dream is for you to win the Champions League.
My dream is to win the Champions League, but it is hard. We tried very hard last season but I think now we are playing well again in Europe and this season can be our season. We want to win as well but it’s not easy.
Is the Premier League title race still open?
For me I think it’s still early to say anything about this, the season has only just begun. Of course they [Liverpool] are playing well, we know this, but we haven’t played like we know we can. We can play like we did last season and win the title again. It is not easy as this season is more difficult than last season.
Do you think you deserve to play more for Man City?
Sometimes it’s not easy to talk about who deserves to play. Sergio is top scorer of the club so it is not easy for me. I want to improve and want to help him and the club to score every game and win the title. I always respect the opinion of the manager. Whoever he picks, it’s the best decision for the team.
There are eight players from the Premier League in the current Brazil squad. What can you say about the Premier League and the increase in Latin Americans?
It is a difficult league. I can talk about the premier league because I play there, for me its one of the most difficult leagues in the world. I cannot talk about another league because I haven’t played there but my opinion the premier league is the hardest for a forward. It’s very competitive, you find a lot of teams are dangerous at set pieces so any premier league is hard.
The people of the UAE are very interested in Salah and Mahrez – what are your thoughts on them?
Salah has showed his quality in the last two seasons, he has scored a lot. I don’t train with him but I know he is quality. I do train with Riyad. He is one of the most technical players I have played with, his first touch is amazing. An amazing player that showed the world how good he is at Leicester and is now playing well for us, scoring goals and making assists all the time.
Touchline exchange between Tite and Messi – what do you know about the incident?
I didn’t see it and after the game I didn’t see, I don’t what Lionel Messi said to Tite. Brazil v Argentina is a big derby so emotions are always going to be running high.
What do you make of Thiago Silva’s comments about Messi?
Every captain wants to talk with the ref, sometimes its 1, 2 or 3 players that try to do this. Sometimes football is like this.
