Gabriel Jesus vows to fight for decisive Barcelona goals despite Raphinha’s form

Gabriel Jesus says he is ready to compete for a bigger role at Barcelona but does not want to score only when the Catalan side are already comfortably ahead.

The Brazil forward has made a gradual start to life at his new club as he adapts to Barcelona and tries to break into an attack led by the outstanding form of Raphinha and Lamine Yamal.

According to Spanish newspaper Marca, Raphinha is the one guaranteed starter in Hans Flick’s forward line. The former Leeds United player has become the manager’s first choice to operate as a false nine, particularly during a period in which Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres were unavailable during the previous transfer window.

Raphinha’s contribution has been remarkable. He has scored eight goals and provided three assists in six appearances, comprising five La Liga matches and one game in the UEFA Champions League.

That level of production, combined with the attacking output of Lamine Yamal, Fermin and Adeyemi, has limited Jesus’ opportunities since his move to Barcelona.

“Raphinha is scoring goals, playing every match and deserves to do so,” Jesus said in an interview with the programme Tot Costa, broadcast by Spanish channel TV3.

“I will try to compete and wait for my chance to play more and get more minutes.”

Jesus has featured in only two matches so far. He played seven minutes against Feyenoord and two minutes against Valencia, although he has already opened his Barcelona goalscoring account in the UEFA Champions League.

The former Arsenal player scored Barcelona’s fifth goal, giving him an early contribution despite his limited involvement.

Jesus, whose contract with Barcelona runs until June 2029, said his ambition was to make a more significant impact in important moments rather than add late goals in matches that have already been settled.

“I want to score goals and provide assists, but I do not want to do that when the team are winning by two, three or four goals,” he said.

“I want to score decisive goals for Barca.”