OPINION
West Ham must rev up their reported talks with Inter Milan over signing Gabriel Barbosa as Brazilian side Flamengo have joined the race for him.
According to Sky journalist Gianluca Di Marzio the Hammers are currently discussing signing the 22-year-old Brazilian forward, with discussions set to become more dense in the coming weeks.
Yet the London club shouldn’t waste time getting down to the heart of the matter as Barbosa, better known as Gabigol, could easily be tempted into joining Flamengo.
The Daily Mail reported on Wednesday that the Hammers were leading several English clubs in the race for the forward but that Flamengo had now emerged as a new suitor and were looking to beat the Premier League side to the post.
Given that Gabigol is currently excelling in his home country of Brazil with Santos on loan and that it would probably be nice for him to remain in his native country given he is still relatively young and probably has family close, Flamengo could steal his heart and his signature if given the chance.
The 22-year-old, who has been in clinical form this season after scoring 18 goals in 35 league appearances, also didn’t look overly comfortable when in Italy playing for Inter Milan.
Whether the player missed his home country of Brazil and that caused him to be unsettled and struggle for the European giants is certainly arguable especially since his form has spectacularly rebounded for Santos this season.
It’s easy to see that Gabigol given his goalscoring record could be a very useful player at the Hammers as players who can score at the rate he can, are worth their weight in gold.
Also as he is only 22-years-old, he could light the London Stadium up for many years to come.
This means that now that Flamengo have entered the race, the Hammers have to rev up their reported talks over signing Gabigol to ensure they get a deal done and dusted before the Brazilian side can argue their case.
