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Gabriel Jesus received message from Nicolas Otamendi after Manchester City teammate fractured his eye socket

Jesus was stretchered off during Brazil’s 1-0 defeat to Argentina on Friday

Mark Critchley
Monday 12 June 2017 13:16 BST
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Gabriel Jesus was stretchered off during Brazil's defeat to Argentina
Gabriel Jesus was stretchered off during Brazil's defeat to Argentina (Getty)

Gabriel Jesus holds no ill feelings towards Nicolas Otamendi after a clash with his Manchester City team-mate left him with a fractured his eye socket.

Jesus was stretchered off during Brazil’s 1-0 defeat to Argentina in Melbourne on Friday after he was struck by Otamendi’s elbow in an accidental collision.

The 20-year-old striker may yet require surgery on the injury, which has ruled him out of contention to play in his national side’s friendly against Australia on Tuesday.

Speaking to Brazilian television network Globo, Jesus denied that holds a grudge against his club team-mate and revealed that Otamendi sent a message to him after the match.

“There was no bad intention,” he said. “It was a very normal move. There was no malice on (Otamendi’s) part. He’s a good guy.

“His arm came down in a normal way and unfortunately I was on my way up. We were shocked. But there were no bad intentions on his part.

“In the locker room Otamendi sent me a message. In the game it’s normal to have these incidents, and it was not wickedness.”

After arriving at City in January, Jesus missed two months of the season with a broken metatarsal, sustained during a 2-0 victory at Bournemouth in February.

When asked about the severity of this latest setback, Jesus struck a positive note, though warned that he may be required to go under the knife before returning to Manchester.

“We do not know the exact extent yet, but it is nothing to worry about,” he said. “If I have to undergo surgery, then so be it. After my holiday, I will return to Manchester at 100 per cent.”

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