Barcelona Miss Out On Gerson Signing

The midfielder has been heavily linked with a move to Barça but is set to join AS Roma after the Italian club made the highest bid

Barcelona have missed out on the signing of Fluminense midfielder Gerson Santos after the youngster personally confirmed he would be officially presented by AS Roma next Friday, 14th August.

Gerson had been linked with a move to FC Barcelona and the Catalans had purchased a first option for the 18-year-old. However, Barça didn't use their advantage and the Giallorossi have snapped up the talented Brazilian for a fee reported to be around €18 million.

Gerson took to his personal twitter account to confirm this as the star tweeted: “Happy and looking forward to the 14th, my presentation in Rome at the Olimpico #ForzaRoma.”

During the past week, Fluminense gave Barcelona until the 7th of August to match Roma's bid for the player and it seems as if the Catalans weren't serious with his transfer.

Fluminense President Peter Siemsen also revealed on Thursday that Gerson was Roma-bound, as opposed to Barca.

Barcelona will get the €3.2 million they paid to secure first option for the player's transfer. They already have lots of options for the midfield position with Sergi Roberto, Rafinha Alcantara, Denis Suarez, Sergi Samper and Alen Halilovic all stars of the future.