DOHA (Qatar): English Premier League club West Ham United said they want to sign Inter Milan striker Gabriel ‘Gabigol’ Barbosa, who is currently on loan at Brazil side Flamengo.
The 23-year-old Brazil international is in Doha for the FIFA Club World Cup, where Flamengo will take on Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal in the first semifinal on Tuesday night.
According to a report from FCInterNews.it, the London side are the latest European club besides Crystal Palace, Schalke and Real Valladolid to show interest in the former Santos player .
West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini is most likely to hire a new striker in January window transfer, and has evinced interest in Gabigol.
The interest from the Hammers is understood to have Flamengo management worried that Gabigol could be snatched from them.
The Rio de Janeiro club has an agreement in place over his transfer, but the player has long made it clear that he does not wish to discuss his future until after the FIFA Club World Cup, which will be the end of Flamengo’s season.
Meanwhile, Flamengo president Rodolfo Landim has confirmed that Gabigol’s future with the club is entirely dependent on him.
The club have made no secret of their desire to sign the striker on a permanent basis, but have been forced to wait due to the player wanting to take time to decide his future.
“We already have a preliminary agreement with Inter. We have not yet spoken to Gabigol as it was decided that we would talk again only at the end of the season but the season has been extended a bit more due to the Club World Cup,” he said an interview with Brazilian broadcaster SporTV.
