Man United deal for striker cancelled after Chelsea hold talks with club president
Aug 18, 2016 at 12:13 PM
There were suggestions earlier this week claiming Manchester United had agreed on a £30million fee with Santos for the striker’s transfer, who is more commonly known as Gabigol.
Chelsea, Leicester, and Atletico Madrid have all been credited with an interest in recent weeks.
Arsenal were also keen on Barbosa after missing out in £20million move for Leicester striker Jamie Verdy.
And it appears Chelsea have had a say in spoiling United’s plans.
United had been falling behind in the race to land the 19-year-old, who is better known as Gabigol in his homeland, after proposing to pay the transfer fee in four instalments.
According to Brazil publication UOL, Santos president Modesto Roma met with Chelsea officials in London to discuss Gabigol.
But the Blues’ chief told him they weren’t planning on making an offer and suggested no club in the Premier League would consider him.
Modesto is said to have probed Chelsea over the general consensus regarding the Brazilian with United, City, and Leicester considering moves, and now believes the clubs aren’t interested.
The report claims the Santos chief also held talks with Atletico and reckons a move to Spain isn’t on the cards.
That leaves Inter Milan and Juventus battling it out for his signature with both clubs said to have already made offers for the 19-year-old.
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.