West Ham United missed out on Brazilian attacker Gabriel Barbosa.
Agent Junior Pedroso has told FC Inter 1908 that West Ham United attempted to rush through a deal for Inter striker Gabriel Barbosa – but no deal could be done.
The Hammers were expected to be in the market for a new striker this month, and that need could be exacerbated in the coming weeks.
Both Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez are being linked with moves away from the club, and Manuel Pellegrini may need to bring in at least one forward before the end of the transfer window.
One name linked with West Ham in December and in the opening stages of this month was Brazilian ace Gabriel Barbosa, also known as Gabigol.
Barbosa was a sensation with Santos, earning comparisons to Neymar at the time, scoring 56 goals in 154 games, which earned him a 2016 move to Inter Milan.
However, Barbosa struggled with Inter and in a loan move to Benfica, only rediscovering his best form during a loan move back to Brazil with Santos, where he hit 27 goals in 53 games.
West Ham were keen, but Barbosa has headed back to Brazil, with the 23-year-old signing for Flamengo on loan until December of this year.
Now, his agent Junior Pedroso has cleared up the situation, suggesting that West Ham were attempting to rush through a deal, but couldn’t come to an arrangement – and that led Barbosa to join Flamengo instead.
“West Ham wanted to close the deal quickly because they placed deadlines to do a deal,” said Pedroso. “But we did not reach an agreement,” he added.
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