Some of Jesus' teachings were confusing. Some were insulting to the powers of his day. Some were unpopular or politically incorrect. The authors of the Gospels actually had more to lose than to gain by recording His words. Yet they recorded them anyways. This suggests that the teachings of Jesus recorded in the New Testament were really spoken by him, not contrived to gain appeal.
It’s true, Jesus never said the precise words “I am God," but he did assert his deity. For instance, Jesus claimed unity and equality with God his Father and claimed that he was sent from God.