The fee for the 25-year-old is understood to be £45m and he moves to the Emirates after undergoing a medical and agreeing personal terms. Jesus will wear the No 9 shirt recently vacated by Alexandre Lacazette, who left for Lyon on a free transfer.

The Gunners put in nearly six months of work with Jesus’ representative Marcello Pettinati to ensure they were in pole position to recruit him from City this summer.

He becomes the north London club’s fourth signing of the summer following the additions of Fabio Vieira, Matt Turner and Marquinhos

Arsenal technical director Edu said, “We are delighted that we have secured the transfer of Gabriel. Everyone who knows football well, knows the qualities of Gabriel Jesus.

“Gabriel is a player who we have admired for a long time now. He is 25 years old and an established Brazil international who has consistently demonstrated that he is a player at a very high level. We look forward to seeing him join up with his new teammates ahead of the new season. We all welcome Gabriel to Arsenal.”

Mikel Arteta added, “I’m very excited. The club has done a tremendous job to recruit a player of this stature. I know Gabriel personally very well, and we all know him well from his time in the Premier League and being really successful here. “This is a position that’s been on our radar for a long time now and we have managed to get a player that we all wanted, so I’m really happy.”

According to reports originally published in the Athletic, bookmakers alerted the FA to unusual betting patterns after the match and the governing body is looking into the claims, although a formal investigation has not been undertaken at this stage.

An FA spokesperson said: “The FA is aware of the matter in question and is looking into it.” Arsenal declined to comment.

The Athletic claim to know the identity of the player but have chosen not to reveal his name at this stage due to privacy. The amount of money placed on the bet is said to be ‘highly unusual.

Betting on individual outcomes in matches, such as a corner being taken at a certain time or a card being given, is known as ‘spot betting’. It is problematic for football’s governing bodies as a single individual can affect the outcome of a bet, as opposed to regular bets such as the winner of a match.

Spot-fixing is a major problem in football leagues around the world but is thought to be relatively rare in the Premier League, where players earn higher salaries. There are previous instances of it occurring in English football with some players admitting to the crime.

Following his retirement, former England international Matt Le Tissier admitted that he had colluded with friends to bet on the timing of the first throw-in in a match he played for Southampton against Wimbledon in 1995.

In his autobiography, Le Tissier said he had tried to “make a few quid” by attempting to kick the ball out of play, as he looked to profit on a bet for the first throw-in to occur in the opening minute of the match.

However, the plan failed after a teammate stopped the ball from going out of play.

A few minutes ago, the Gunners announced that Aubameyang would no longer be club captain and that the forward will not be considered for selection against West Ham on Wednesday night.

Aubameyang was axed from Saturday’s Premier League 3-0 win over Southampton for what manager Mikel Arteta said was a “disciplinary breach”, which reportedly concerned a late return from an approved trip abroad last week.

The Gabonese striker had travelled back to France last week Wednesday to go collect his sick mum and bring her back to England.  He took to Instagram last week thanking fans for offering support. He wrote: ‘My mother is going through some health issues and I had to be there for her. She’s already much better now… I’m more than grateful to the doctors and nurses helping her get through this.’

However, it had been agreed that Aubameyang would return later that evening to ensure he would be ready to train on Thursday. But he reportedly flew home on Thursday morning instead and current Covid testing protocols also meant that he was unable to return to training until he had produced a negative PCR test.

The club then made a decision today to strip Aubameyang of the Arsenal captaincy.

Arsenal’s statement on Tuesday morning, December 14 said: “Following his latest disciplinary breach last week, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will no longer be our club captain, and will not be considered for selection for Wednesday’s match against West Ham United. We expect all our players, particularly our captain, to work to the rules and standards we have all set and agreed. We are fully focused on tomorrow’s match.”

Arteta later faced the media just hours after the decision on Aubameyang was announced, and revealed he will not appoint a full-time successor to the 32-year-old striker as captain just yet.

He said: “Well we have the leadership group and we think that we have different players that are nominated to be captain in the last game it was Laca and we have Granit [Xhaka] as well who has been captain so we will follow that. Obviously, it is a really unpleasant situation and it is not the moment to make any rash decision. That leadership group is really strong, it is the one that communicates with myself and the coaching staff and with the club in a really clear and strong way. We are going to continue like that and that is one of the decisions that we made, to make that group a little bit better and try to educate them and try and get the right feedback all the time and build that trust and the strong culture around the club. It is working really well so we will continue to do that.”

Recall the Gabon international was left out of the squad against Southampton due to a disciplinary breach over the weekend and could now have the skipper’s armband taken off him.

The Athletic claims the striker was given permission to fly abroad for personal reasons but arrived back late and due to Covid-19 protocols, he missed training on Friday and was dropped for the 3-0 victory over the Saints on Saturday.

Aubameyang’s captaincy is hanging by a thread, never mind his future at the Emirates, and the general consensus is that he should be stripped of the armband.

Former Gunners hero Martin Keown said: “The captaincy is in question now. You can’t keep being late or disappearing on trips abroad and not coming back on time, your team needs you and he’s not there when you need him most so I expect that to change.”

Arteta refused to discuss whether he would demote the forward and look to appoint a new skipper, but it’s a genuine possibility that Arsenal could have a new club captain.

The Spaniard said: “He had a disciplinary breach, that applies to everybody. That’s a non-negotiable and when that happens he’s out of the team. Whatever happens in the dressing room, I cannot share. I am sorry.

“I’m telling you the reason, I cannot lie, it was that this is where I stand. From my side, I will never [say what the breach was.]”

While there is no standout candidate to take the armband off Aubameyang at the moment, three stars have been listed as the potential candidates.

According to The Athletic, Aaron Ramsdale, Ben White and Gabriel have all stepped up to become leaders to fill the void left by David Luiz who left the club at the end of last season.

The publication believes Arteta has unearthed Ramsdale, White, and Gabriel as his new leaders – making them the three leading picks to replace Aubameyang as skipper.

The ex-Denmark international, who made 81 caps and scored 30 goals for his country over 12 years from 2006-2018, most recently played for Tarnby FF’s ‘M+32 Old Boys’ team.’

Bendtner enjoyed a spell at Arsenal under Arsene Wenger from 2005-2014, where he scored 45 goals in 171 appearances.

He said “I miss it every day, but I am also aware that there is an end date in this job. I think I’ll spend a lot of time understanding that it’s really over now. Now I will find something else that gives me what football has given me in all the years. Football is a big part of my life and I can not leave it, that is why I am in the process of taking the coaching education. I hope it will give me as much or maybe more than it did as a player. That way, I will always be a part of football”

Bendtner started his career at Kjobenhavns Boldklub in Copenhagen before he made the move to Arsenal at the age of 16. While he was contracted to the club for nine years, he enjoyed loan spells at Birmingham City, Sunderland, and Juventus, where he claimed a Serie A winners medal in 2013.

He saw out the rest of his career back in Denmark, with Rosenborg, Copenhagen, and then Taarnby briefly last year.

The withdrawals by Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham came just 48 hours after the league’s unveiling late on Sunday following a furious response from fans and officials.

The three Italian clubs involved, Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan, admitted defeat and La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid also pulled out.

Real Madrid and Barcelona have yet to make any comment but the project in its current form is dead in the water.

AC Milan was one of the main drivers behind the plans, having missed out on the Champions League for the past seven seasons.

The seven-time European champions said the change was necessary due to the changing football landscape but admitted they “must be sensitive to the voice of those who love this wonderful sport”.

Italian champions Juventus said they remained “convinced of the soundness of the project’s sport, commercial and legal premises” but accepted it could not go ahead in its original form.

The Super League promised guaranteed entry for its founding clubs and billions of dollars in payments. Most of the clubs have huge debts and wage bills and suffered a sharp drop in revenues during the coronavirus pandemic.

But the project was vehemently opposed across the football spectrum, from fans to players, coaches, politicians and UEFA and FIFA, the European and world football bodies.

European body UEFA will look to support from the world football chief at its congress in Switzerland as it attempts to quash an initiative that threatens its prized Champions League and the health of domestic competitions such as England’s Premier League.

Twelve powerful clubs, six from England, and three each from Spain and Italy — have signed up for the Super League, which offers guaranteed spots for its founding members and billions of dollars in payments.

Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are the English clubs involved, together with Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid from Spain and Italy’s Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan.

Three more clubs are expected to sign up, including “at least two” from France, a source told AFP. Qatar-owned Paris Saint-Germain is a notable absentee, while Bayern Munich, the reigning European champions, have distanced themselves from the project.

Five more clubs will qualify annually for the 20-team, midweek competition, where two groups of 10 will precede two-legged quarter- and semi-finals and a one-off final. The competition is due for launch “as soon as is practicable”.

FIFA’s reaction so far, ahead of Infantino’s speech at the opening of the UEFA congress, has been markedly less strident, expressing “disapproval” and calling for dialogue.

The world body’s stance is likely to be crucial. In January, FIFA and the six global confederations warned that any club or player involved in a breakaway would be ineligible for FIFA competitions.

Backed by finance company JP Morgan, the Super League is offering the founding clubs 3.5 billion euros ($4 billion, £3 billion) for infrastructure investment and to offset pandemic costs.

The clubs, most of them heavily indebted and saddled with enormous player salaries, are expected to receive a further 10 billion euros in “solidarity payments” over the life of the initial commitment — much more than the returns available in the Champions League.

The breakaway announcement came just hours before UEFA announced a new, 36-team format for the Champions League, which had been conceived to placate the continent’s biggest clubs.

The Gunners revealed on Boxing Day that the Brazilian footballer was self-isolating after a close contact tested positive for the disease, missing the 3-1 home victory over Chelsea.

An official club statement said “Gabriel has tested positive for Covid-19 and is isolating according to UK Government and Premier League protocols. We will continue to monitor and support Gabriel, and we are hoping he will be available again after our next two matches”

Gabriel’s diagnosis was announced after Manchester City’s match with Everton got called off because of an outbreak among City’s squad and playing staff.

New signing Gabriel Magalhaes grabbed a debut goal and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a stunner in Saturday season’s opener, while former Chelsea winger Willian provided a pair of assists on his debut, just 48 days after the last season ended.

Arsenal’s free-flowing attack was too much for promoted Fulham as Lacazette gave the visitors an early lead. Brazilian defender, Gabriel, scored Arsenal’s second after the break-in his first appearance since joining from Lille.

Aubameyang then added the final flourish with a typically eye-catching strike.

The decision to postpone the big clash between the two sides came after some players and staff of Arsenal had contact with the Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis, who has now been diagnosed with Coronavirus.

As a precaution, the players and staff affected have been placed in self-isolation for 14-days, but Thursday will be the last day of the isolation. That is because the meeting between Marinakis and the Arsenal officials took place 13 days ago.

The Premier League said in a statement “Following medical advice, Arsenal FC and Manchester City FC consider it is necessary to postpone their fixture due to be played this evening to give time to fully assess the situation. The Premier League has therefore agreed that tonight’s game will be rearranged. We identified that a number of players met the Olympiacos owner immediately following the game. The medical advice we have received puts the risk of them developing Covid-19 at extremely low. However, we are strictly following the Government guidelines which recommend that anyone coming into close contact with someone with the virus should self-isolate at home for 14 days from the last time they had contact. As a result, the players are unavailable for tonight’s match against Manchester City and the Premier League has decided the game should be postponed. The players will remain at their homes until the 14-day period expires. Four Arsenal staff – who were sitting close to Mr Marinakis during the match – will also remain at home until the 14 days are complete. We fully understand how disappointing this is for our supporters, in particular those who were travelling to Manchester for tonight’s match. Tickets will be valid for the match when it’s rearranged.”