West Ham are beating Everton and Crystal Palace in the race to sign Inter Milan forward Gabriel “Gabigol” Barbosa in the January transfer window, according to Fox Sports journalist Rodrigo Bueno.
The Brazilian reporter claims on his personal Twitter account that Barbosa, 22, “can go to West Ham” next month, and the Hammers are currently in pole position to land the striker, who is due to return to Inter after a spell on loan with Santos.
Gabigol pode ir para o West Ham
— Rodrigo Bueno (@RodrigoBuenoTV) December 19, 2018
Crystal Palace e Everton sondaram ele também, mas West Ham é quem está mais a fim
— Rodrigo Bueno (@RodrigoBuenoTV) December 19, 2018
Sky Sports Italy journalist Gianluca Di Marzio has recently reported that West Ham have been in talks to sign the Brazil international next month.
Good move for West Ham?
Gabigol has been in good form while on loan at Santos, scoring a total of 19 goals for them in 2018, however he has not really performed that well at Inter Milan – which is why the Hammers should maybe avoid signing him.
The Brazilian striker is likely to cost the London club a lot of money if they are able to strike an agreement next month.
According to Brazilian news outlet SambaFoot, he earns £87,000-a-week on his deal at Inter Milan and Calcio Mercato reported last month that the Italian giants want at least £18million for him.
That is way too much for someone who has only managed 10 appearances and one goal since signing for Inter.
If he isn’t good enough for Serie A then he isn’t good enough for the Premier League.
This is Futbol rating 4/10
Likely to happen?
Everton don’t seem as though they have as much chance as West Ham of signing Gabigol, and Manuel Pellegrini is obviously keen on signing South American players for the London club.
Felipe Anderson and Fabian Balbuena have had a major impact since signing in the summer and Pellegrini may feel that Gabigol could do the same.
There is a chance that this could happen, especially with multiple sources in both Italy and Brazil now picking up on the story.
This is Futbol rating 6/10