In the final days of the January transfer market, Barcelona made a desperate attempt to reinforce their attack as Ousmane Dembele was sidelined for a subsequent amount of time.
The Frenchman still has not recovered from an injury he picked up in January, but Barcelona decided to prioritize the registration of Gavi instead.
However, if not for the registration of the midfielder, there was a possibility that Angelo Gabriel, an 18-year-old Santos winger, would have arrived in Catalonia on loan with a purchase option.
In the end, however, after listening to Xavi’s suggestion, Barcelona decided not to pursue the youngster, but the story does not really end there.
Knowing that the 18-year-old is being monitored by several top teams across the continent, including the English Premier League sides, the Blaugrana had already acquired a right of first refusal and a preferential purchase option.
And now, if a report from DEPREDICT is to be believed, Brazilian side Flamengo have approached Santos with a lucrative offer for the young attacker.
The outlet says that Flamengo have come up with a €12 million bid for Gabriel for 50% of his rights. It should be noted that Santos value him at €24 million.
Given their current state of finances, the management, led by Andres Rueda, has accepted the offer. And if the transfer does go through, the fee will be paid in three instalments.
There is an agreement in place between the teams, but approval from the player’s side is missing, the reason being his desire to wait until the summer transfer window to make a move to Europe.
At the same time, Gabriel does understand that if he continues in Brazil, he will anyway be playing for the continent’s biggest team which is currently the champion of the Copa Libertadores.
As for Barcelona, they will need to make a definitive decision on whether they wish to match Flamengo’s offer for Angelo Gabriel or see him sign for Flamengo from Santos.
