We are few more days away from the transfer window to officially open and Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has already gone all out to sign a striker.
In recent days, the Gunners have been linked with plenty of strikers including the likes of Morata, Lukaku and Lacazette, but there hasn’t been a break through yet.
Reports from Express has it that Gabriel Barbosa has agreed a deal to join a ‘top English club’ after Arsenal triggered a £15m buyout clause in his current contract.
Gabriel Barbosa Almeida also known as Gabigol has been crowned one of the hottest young talents in Brazilian football since he broke in to the Santos first team in 2013 with some people comparing him to Neymar.
The youngster has impressed through the Santos youth ranks and has netted 50 goals in 150 appearances for the club, while he also made his first appearance for Brazil national team during the victory against Panama in May.
The Brazilian youngster potential caught the eye of Arsenal scout and reports from ESPN Brazil has it that we triggered a buyout clause in Barbosa’s current contract at Santos worth £15m (€18m) but will face vast completion from Hebei Fortune and Chinese.
However, the Express reported that the Barbosa has rejected a deal from China in order to join a ‘top English club’, thought to be Arsenal and Brazilian outlet claimed that the youngster favored a move to the Emirates Stadium.
The newspaper also has it that Brazilian journalist Elia Junior who works for Radio Bandeirantes as the source of the information so it see Arsenal are closing in on making their second signing of the summer.
There is real confusion surrounding this deal, because in a latter article the Express themselves reported that the release clause for the youngster is around £41m.
They have been so many rumours flying around these days, so we have to wait and see how much truth there is behind these reports but the Gunners boss has been on the out-look for a new striker this summer and has been forced to turn his attention to other targets after Jamie Vardy rejected a move to the Emirates last week.
The 19-year-old ace is versatile and capable of playing out wide or through the middle as a centre-forward, so he could serve plenty of options in attack for Wenger if he end up completing a switch to the Emirates.
Another possible stumbling block could be the fact that player’s economic rights are divided between Santos, with 40%, Doyen Sports, with 20%, and the athlete himself, 40%, and these types of deals are always difficult to pull off.
