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| FC Barcelona have preferential rights to sign Gabigol |
FC Barcelona are desperately interested in signing a striker and have preferential rights to sign Brazilian 19-year old goal machine Gabriel Barbosa who has also received interests from Chelsea and Juventus.
The Catalan giants are in the market for a striker and Atletico Madrid forward Luciano Vietto is the club's preferred option, however, it has been reported that the player is close to signing for Sevilla which means Barça will set their sight elsewhere.
The club paid €7.9 million to Santos in 2013 to get preferential rights over three players of which Gabigol is among. This happened during the negotiations between both clubs for the transfer of Neymar to Spain.
The striker has made it known he'll leave Santos this summer and played his last game for the Brazilian club on Saturday where he scored a goal to help his team beat Ponte Preta 3-1. During the game, scouts from FC Barcelona was present to watch the star and that fuelled speculations that they might just exercise their right to sign the player.
“I might have played my last game for Santos. There are negotiations ongoing with a European club.”
These were the words of Gabigol after the game against Ponte Preta. He kissed the Santos badge on the field to show is love for the club.
Gabigol is being targeted by a host of top European clubs. Juventus and Chelsea have reportedly made bids for the player while the likes of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have shown strong interests in the player with scouts present to watch him on Saturday.
Barça need a young striker to serve as a backup for Messi, Neymar and Suarez and with Angel Correa impossible and Luciano Vietto slipping away, Gabigol might just be the one they need. He's still 19-years old and is already banging in goals for his club, netting 57 times in 155 games.
Gabigol will feature in the 2016 Rio Olympic games for Brazil alongside FC Barcelona player Neymar and also club target Gabriel Jesus.
