The story out of the blue last week was that highly promising teenagerGabigol had rejected Chelsea’s advances (and the €30m of good intentions they were accompanied with) to stay with Santos and continue developing in Brazil before making the jump to Europe.
But because this is Brazil and very few things regarding football transfers are at all straightforward in Brazil, that story may not be entirely true. In fact, it may not be true at all.
Gabigol was supposed to have signed a new contract with Santos by now, but that hasn’t happened yet. As it turns out, according to Globo Esporte, the 19-year-old wasn’t actually aware of Chelsea’s bid until last week thanks to a representative keeping it a “secret”. This agent of sorts, Juan Figer, wanted a 10% cut and so he was holding this offer ransom. Or some such. It’s all very convoluted and weird. Then again, we’re dealing with the Brazilian league here with their multi-tiered schemes and third-party owners and random rules and habits. Dealing directly with Santos may not even have been an option.
In any case, one way or another, Gabigol has finally learned of the offer and this has now caused him to reconsider his options. He’s apparently even started at least exploring the possibility of a potential move abroad, hiring some sort of “staff” to help him in such an endeavor (apparently Neymar started doing this as well just before moving to Barcelona). His family is supportive of any decision he makes, but while he claims to be settled at Santos and wants to be sure of playing time if he does move, his head seems to have been turned.
With the money involved, Gabigol would have no problems getting a work permit in England, though whether he’d be willing to come and fight for his place at Chelsea at the moment is unclear. He is however, arguably, the most promising young Brazilian player at the moment, and if Chelsea were able to land him, we could be reaping the benefits for many years to come.
