Jesus’ move to City was confirmed on Thursday and Pep Guardiola announced in his press conference that the 19-year-old is available for selection in Saturday’s visit of Tottenham Hotspur.
Otamendi can’t wait to line up alongside the Brazilian international but has called for patience as he adjusts to a different setting.
He said: “The arrival of a new player always helps and strengthens us. I’ve played against him only once, but I could see his skills and his strengths. He’s a very quick and skilful player, very talented and we hope to have him at his best level soon. I hope he can help us to grow as a team.
“He’s a young kid, arriving to a different type of football than in South America. He’s going to need time to adapt, but his quality and his skills are there. As teammates, we need to help him to adapt to this football, to grow and to increase his potential.
“If he adapts quickly, obviously we are going to use him and take advantage of his potential. I think if Manchester City brought him here it’s for a reason, but it takes time and we all hope we can see his potential very soon.”
As an Argentinian who moved from Velez Sarsfield to Porto in 2010, Otamendi is well placed to give the young striker advice on a move from one great football continent to another.
“At the beginning it’s difficult, you come to a different type of football. The football in South America is completely different to the football in Europe.
“When I left I went to Porto, where the only tough competition we had was the Champions League. The Portuguese League is at a lower level than the Premier League and it took me a while to get used to it.
“It’s important to play and gain pace, but it depends on the player. I had the chance to play and do it regularly straight away. That process in Portugal helped me later on to adapt faster to English football when I came here.”
Jesus’ debut can come in Saturday’s Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur and Otamendi has praised the form of this weekend’s visitors, who sit in second place, but insists City know how to come out on top.
He said: “Tottenham have been doing things well for several years. They compete at the same level with any team. They are a team with lots of young players that run a lot. If we want to win, we will have to run two times more than them, play at 100%, be focused in every detail.
“I think is essential to work as a team. Both defensively and offensively, it’s very important play a very compact match and try not to make any mistakes.”
With City currently in fifth place in the Premier League, Otamendi sees this as an excellent opportunity to create momentum that can carry City to a title challenge in the second half of the season.
“We are not in the situation we would like to be, because we are not on top of the league. But it depends on us, we need to correct specific mistakes we are making, those that our rivals are taking advantage of to damage us.
“We need to try to improve that. Nowadays, what matters are wins and going game-by-game. It’s not worth it thinking that if we win this weekend, we can eventually be on top of the table. We need to be realistic and think that there’s a lot of season left, but we can’t lose sight of Chelsea.”
