The Brazil ace was linked with the Toffees, who reportedly sought to bring him to Goodison Park last year.
Everton were linked with a move for Brazil striker Gabriel Barbosa last year and, given how much he has come in leaps and bounds in the past 18 months, surely they will rue the failure to bring him to Goodison Park.
Though Gabigol’s time in Europe was not particularly fruitful, with one goal apiece for Inter Milan and Benfica (Transfermarkt), his quality has been on show back in Brazil, first on loan back at Santos, with 18 goals and one assist in 35 Brazilian Serie A games.
Now at Flamengo, the 23-year-old is reaching Ronaldo-esque levels of goalscoring, with 15 goals and four assists from just 14 Serie A games, and a further five goals in the Copa Libertadores for a total of 20 in all competitions this term (Transfermarkt).
Here is Gabigol’s goal and assist tally from his last eight league games:
The Merseyside outfit were interested in signing the Brazilian last year, according to Italian publication Tutto Mercato Web, but the last transfer rumour surrounding him claimed he was on the verge of a £16million permanent move to Flamengo (Sky Italia), though there has been no confirmation ahead of the closure of the transfer window.
A young, pacey striker who’s a proven finisher with stats to back him up, it looks unlikely now that Inter would let Gabigol leave for such a modest fee given his current goalscoring form, and if he doesn’t return to Brazil permanently, one would assume Europe’s elite, Champions League-level clubs will start registering their interest in such a goal machine, so Everton could well have missed the boat there.
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