Arsenal, Chelsea dealt major blow: EPL rivals favourites to sign ‘Next Neymar’
Aug 10, 2016 at 6:19 PM
Premier League champions Leicester City have made a £23m bid to sign Santos striker Gabriel Barbosa who is also a potential target for Chelsea and Arsenal, according to Daily Mail.
This news may come as a massive blow to both Chelsea boss Antonio Conte and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. Last month Daily Mirror claimed that the Italian was willing to make a £25million offer to sign Barbosa.
Meanwhile, Arsenal’s never-ending search for a new striker ultimately took them to Brazil. Recently, the Gunners have been linked with a swoop for Gabriel Barbosa, the Santos striker who is likely to be one of the stars of this season’s Olympic football tournament.
The 19-year-old, known as ‘Gabigol’, is one of the hottest prospects in world football and is currently on international duty for the Brazil team at the Olympics in Rio. He has been in the headlines for a number of months, however, with a host of big-name European clubs looking to lure him from his homeland.
He has often been compared to Neymar but he is less showy than the Barcelona man was at this stage of his career.
Chelsea and Arsenal have been linked in the past, though this report from Mail states the likes of Inter Milan, Juventus, and Barcelona are the teams in the mix to sign him. Leicester have made their move, however and are hoping to press ahead with the move for the youngster.
Additionally, the Foxes are hoping to tie up a deal to sign Deportivo La Coruna forward Lucas Perez before the transfer window closes. The club are reported to have placed a £12.5m offer for the 27-year-old and are hoping to bolster their attacking options as rumours persist that Riyad Mahrez could leave ahead of the new season.
Both Arsenal and Chelsea want the Algerian, but Claudio Ranieri is hopeful that Mahrez can be convinced to stay at the King Power for the new season – much like Jamie Vardy had done earlier in the transfer window.
Vardy signed a new deal in the wake of interest from Arsenal, and Ranieri has followed suit on Wednesday morning, penning a new contract until 2020.