‘Gabigol’ flopped under de Boer at Inter Milan – but his stunning form at Flamengo could pave the way for a move to the Premier League with Roy Hodgson.
You have to earn a nickname like ‘Gabigol’.
And during that ill-fated spell at Inter Milan three years ago, when the Brazilian striker scored just once in 10 games, that rather ambitious moniker quickly became a stick with which to beat one of the most expensive flops in recent Serie A history.
“I didn’t know much about him, but they told me he was a fantastic player,” Frank de Boer, whose short-lived spell in charge of the Nerazzuri coincided with Gabriel Barbosa’s debut season Italian football, told Fox Sports.
“They call him Gabigol but we called him Gabi-no-gol.”
No one is questioning the 23-year-old’s ability to hit the back of the net these days, however.
Gabriel has been a man reborn since returning to Brazil, plundering a remarkable 40 goals in 54 games during a loan spell at Flamengo this season with two of those coming in Sunday’s Copa Libertadores final victory over River Plate.
Thanks to his ruthless finishing, Flamengo won South America’s answer to the Champions League for the first time since Zico inspired the Samba giants to continental success all the way back in 1981.
And, according to FC Inter News, ‘Gabigol’ could soon swap Inter Milan for another of De Boer’s former clubs – Crystal Palace. The Eagles have set aside £20 million to bring a player who won Olympic gold alongside Neymar and Gabriel Jesus in 2016 to the Premier League.
Palace fans will be hoping that Roy Hodgson can do what De Boer couldn’t and coax that fearsome potential out of one of the world’s most lethal centre-forwards.
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