Sometimes when you're setting up for an interview, things don't go to plan.
A security guard won't let you in, the room's too small, the manager
changes training, there's a dog barking loudly right outside the window
(happens quite a bit at Arsenal) or - as on this occasion - the camera's
full of water because the cameraman was filming a cricket promo on the
beach the day before.Days like this can be stressful and I found myself sending a text to my producer to moan.
To me that text captured the mood around Gabriel Jesus at the moment. He's only started one Premier League match, only scored one tap-in, and yet it does feel like a special footballer might have arrived on our shoes. Gabriel Jesus celebrates his debut goal in English football at West Ham
Ten
minutes after the text, with the camera fixed and just as I was halfway
through making a calming cup of tea, the young boy (footballers always
look younger in their 'civvies' than they do in their kits, I think) of
whom so much is expected, arrived for his interview.He was smiley, just as he is on the pitch, happy to try a few lines in English and didn't tut when I asked if he wouldn't mind taking off the cap, with a big logo on it, that was perched on his head (there are broadcasting rules about these things).
Most importantly he talked openly about the journey which has seen him go from a Sao Paolo street football to (perhaps) the Premier League's next superstar.
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