Jesus has given Guardiola a decision to make at Man City

In January, there were murmurs that this season would be Gabriel Jesus' last at Manchester City.

The striker endured a difficult season last term, and in the first few months of this season he still hadn't found a way to dislodge Sergio Aguero as Pep Guardiola's first-choice striker.

Some would argue he still hasn't, but Jesus' City career looks far more promising than it did just two months ago.

Last season, the Brazilian started just 21 of his 47 appearances, and those were predominately outside the Premier League. This term, he has already started more times (22) in less total appearances (39), with his goal tally just three behind the 21 strikes he recorded in 2018/19.

Those appearance statistics suggest Jesus is slowly becoming more trusted under Guardiola, but he still has a challenge to become the first choice forward at the Etihad.

That is because of his 39 appearances this season, 22 have come away from home. And 13 of Jesus' 18 goals in 2019/20 have come away, too.

On the one hand, it reflects well on Jesus that he has emphatically taken his chance, even if it is away from home. And such a statistic doesn't acknowledge how one of those away goals was at the Bernabeu earlier this month to cap off a superb individual display in City's biggest game of the season. It wasn't the performance of a second striker.

However, ask the player himself and he would surely prefer to be Guardiola's first name on the teamsheet regardless of opposition, venue, or importance of the game. Until he is preferred more than Aguero, he will always be the second choice.

So he will be encouraged that Guardiola recently opened the door to playing the pair together in the same starting line up - something he has been reluctant to do last season and even at the beginning of this campaign.

"They can play together," Guardiola said earlier this week, suggesting Jesus could operate from the left more often - as he did at Real Madrid.

"I think Gabriel can adapt perfectly in that way, especially because he doesn't play really wide. He can play a little bit wider, then inside. Gabriel can play perfectly in that position and he's done really well there."

Just for Guardiola to explore the option of Jesus playing alongside club legend Aguero is a promising sign for the no.9. He can focus on being Aguero's successor at a later date.

And since those rumours of City letting Jesus leave at the end of the season surfaced, Guardiola has started him in seven of 15 games this calendar year, including three of City's six home fixtures.

So when (or if) the season resumes, Jesus will hope to continue playing his way into Guardiola's first-choice XI. Whether it is home or away, the more Jesus scores, the more he gives his manager a decision to make.