Leicester City have reportedly joined fellow Premier League clubs Arsenal and Chelsea in the chase to sign Santos wonderkid Gabigol.
Premier League champions Leicester City have entered the race to sign Brazilian forward Gabriel Barbosa, according to Italian Football Daily. The article cites a La Gazzetta dello Sport report stating the Foxes are preparing a €30m bid to seal a deal for the 19-year-old.
Fellow Premier League clubs Arsenal and Chelsea were both strongly linked to the Brazilian, but the striker is rumoured to be on his way to the Serie A, with both Juventus and Inter Milan tabling offers to his current employers Santos. Chelsea had a bid rejected by Santos earlier in the summer, but the situation has changed a bit since, with the Brazilian club accepting a €20m bid from Juventus.
The report also added that the player’s agent, Wagner Ribeiro, had previously admitted to Lance Net that Inter Milan had also made an offer of €25m for the player. Ribeiro is set to meet the player and his family after the Olympics and determine the best course of action.
Gabigol is currently a part of Brazil’s Olympic mission to win the gold medal in their own backyard. With so many offers from top European clubs on the table, the 19-year-old must decide where his future lies as he aims to make his mark in Europe.
Leicester City are determined to prove to the world that their Premier League title-winning campaign was not just a one-off. The club have secured the future of stars Jamie Vardy and Kasper Schmeichel, tying both of them down to long-term deals. Even though Riyad Mahrez has been the subject of transfer interest from Arsenal, Claudio Ranieri has insisted that the Algerian will stay at the King Power Stadium and help his side defend their title.
Ranieri has done the near-impossible task of keeping the core of the title-winning squad intact — N’Golo Kante being the only major departure — and the Italian would be hoping to add some more flair and firepower to aid the club’s title defence this season.
Gabigol needs regular playing time at this stage of his career, but Juventus already have a plethora of strikers, which would limit the Brazilian’s opportunities. Inter Milan, Arsenal and Chelsea are all in need of a striker and would be better options, if he were to choose among the three. The 19-year-old, though, could very well choose to go with the Foxes and join a fairy-tale that, far from being over, appears as though it is just getting started.
