Manuel Pellegrini’s West Ham United reportedly want to bring Inter Milan’s Serie A flop Gabriel Barbosa to the Premier League in January.
The Gabriel Barbosa to West Ham United rumours aren’t going anywhere.
After being linked with a move to the English capital for much of 2018, FC Inter News reports that ‘London’s calling’ once again with the January transfer window not a million miles away.
Gabriel is still an Inter Milan player believe it or not but Antonio Conte wants to sell as soon as possible with a £22.5 million price-tag on his head. And while the cynics might be quick to point out that the Brazilian striker flopped spectacularly at the San Siro, his remarkable goalscoring record since returning to South America on loan cannot be underestimated.
In total, he netted 27 times in 53 matches during a spell at Sao Paulo last season. And since joining Flamengo in January, he’s been even more prolific. 32 in 44, plus 18 in 18 league games, means Gabriel deserves to re-claim his ‘Gabigol’ nickname.
Three years after winning Olympic gold in Rio 2016 alongside Neymar and Gabriel Jesus, Gabigol is making up for lost time. In fact, his goals-per-game ratio since the start of last season is even more impressive than West Ham’s £40 million record-signing Sebastien Haller.
While Haller has averaged a goal every two games for Eintracht Frankfurt and West Ham, Gabigol finds the net every 1.6 matches.
And before you point out that the Brazilian Serie A can’t hold a candle to the quality of the Premier League or the Bundesliga, it’s worth remembering that goals aren’t exactly easy to come by in South American football, which remains as ferociously competitive and results-driven as ever.
Gabigol’s remarkable record is very much an anomaly.
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