Junior Pedroso, agent of former Inter striker Gabriel ‘Gabigol’ Barbosa, discussed the player’s transfer to Brazilian side Flamengo and the other offers the club received in an interview with Italian media outlet Calciomercato.com today.
First, he discussed the difficulty of the move from Milan to Brazil.
“Less difficult than it looked. Let’s say it was a useful deal for everyone. Inter wanted to negotiate the sale, Flamengo wanted to buy him and Gabriel wanted to return to his club. The deal was long in terms of timing because the guy didn’t want to negotiate during the most delicate period of last season, when important trophies were being played. He didn’t want any interference or distractions.”
Pedroso then touched on how professional Flamengo were in the negotiations.
“Let’s say that the skill was in being able to move forward without having excessive media pressure on the negotiation during those weeks. I take this opportunity to say that Flamengo has been very professional with its management, including Mr. Marcos Braz and Mr. Bruno Spindel.”
Gabigol’s agent then discussed offers that had arrived from other European clubs.
“Yes, we had offers from two top clubs, one from the Bundesliga and another from the Premier League. Gabriel and his family thought long and hard and decided that Flamengo was the right choice to continue his career at a high level.”
He touched on how Gabigol never expected to return to Milan due to Inter’s clear preference that he move away.
“Have you ever heard Gabriel say, ‘I’m doing great in Brazil, now I want to show Inter that I can come back and do well there’ or something like that? No, never. The reality is that there was no way back, Inter closed the doors on Gabigol permanently. It was never an option. I can tell he’s overjoyed that way.”
Finally, Pedroso discussed how happy Gabigol was with Flamengo.
“With his Flamengo, with a club that welcomed him in a great way, his teammates who love him, the fans who give him all kinds of attention. He has an extraordinary coach like Jorge Jesus who has helped him. That’s all he needs.”
Gabigol had the best season of his career last year with Flamengo. The 23-year-old Brazilian striker made 41 appearances across all competitions, for a total of 3561 minutes. In that time, he scored 34 goals and provided 11 assists, guiding the club to both the league title and the coveted Copa Libertadores.
