Barcelona boss Flick praises Gabriel Jesus before Champions League match: 'He's perfect'

Jesus already has three goals since joining from Arsenal. • Last Update: 2 minutes ago•2 min read Hansi Flick believes Gabriel Jesus is "perfect" for Barcelona following the striker's impressive start to life at Camp Nou.

Jesus joined Barcelona from Arsenal in September, having seen the final years of his time in North London heavily disrupted by injury. Barca spent much of the summer trying to prise Julian Alvarez from Atletico Madrid, with their failure to do so seemingly leaving the defending LaLiga champions light at the centre forward spot.

But the signing of Jesus to help fill that void following Robert Lewandowski's departure to MLS side Chicago Fire is looking an increasingly astute one. With Raphinha, who had been playing through the middle, out with a thigh injury, Jesus made it three goals in five games in all competitions by scoring the second goal in Barcelona's 3-0 win over Getafe on Saturday.

Before Tuesday's Champions League clash at Galatasaray, Flick heaped praise on the former Manchester City striker. Asked about the possibility of Jesus starting against Galatasaray, Flick told apre-match press conference: "Yes, of course he's ready.

But if he plays, we don't know yet. We will decide tomorrow after the training today.

But I'm very happy that he's in our team. It was a little surprise, to be honest.

But at the end, he's absolutely a top guy. He's a very good player for us.

And his behaviour, his character, it's perfect for us." Barcelona had a comfortable start to their latest effort to win the Champions League for the first time since 2015, beating Feyenoord 5-1 in their league phase opener. But Flick knows the task in Istanbul is likely to be considerably more difficult.

"We have to be prepared for the atmosphere."