Sao Paulo are under pressure to raise funds before the transfer window shuts and that has boosted West Ham United’s hopes of landing Igor Gomes, as reported by Lance.
There’s good reason why this 22-year-old rising star is nicknamed ‘the new Kaka’ back home in Brazil.
If you flick over to YouTube and watch Gomes in full flow, you’d be forgiven for thinking the 2007 Ballon D’Or winner had been cloned and thrust into the heart of Sao Paulo’s midfield.
Elegent and efficient in equal measure, Gomes carries the ball like Kaka in his pomp, striding and slaloming away from defenders with a speed that belies his rangy frame.
It probably helps that the former AC Milan and Real Madrid superstar also came through the ranks at Sao Paulo.
In 2003, Milan paid just £7 million to sign the then-World Cup winner – a fee president Silvio Berlusconi described as “peanuts”. And it’s not hard to imagine Davids Gold or Sullivan saying something similar if Gomes ends up at the London Stadium before the month is out.
West Ham eyeing Igor Gomes – the ‘new Kaka’
According to French publication Homme du Match, West Ham are interested. What’s more, Sao Paulo could cash in on one of the brightest talents in Brazilian football for as little as £13 million.
You see, The Tricolor are stuck in a financial hole at the moment. They went into the summer needing to raise £24 million via player sales and, so far, have managed to bring in just £17 million.
That leaves £7 million still unaccounted for, with Sao Paulo unable to bring in signings – including one-time West Ham loanee Jonathan Calleri – until things are sorted.
And that’s where Gomes comes in.
Last summer when Gomes was being linked with Liverpool and Real Madrid his agent, the influential Wagner Ribeiro, said the Brazil U23 star could be available for about £23 million.
12 months on, his price tag has fallen considerably.
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