Brazilian Striker Agrees PL Move After Arsenal Trigger £15m Buyout Clause

The opening of the summer transfer window is fast approaching so we’ll bring you all the latest transfer rumours and gossip from around the globe. Today, Arsenal are linked with Gabriel Barbosa….

Gabriel Barbosa has agreed a deal to join a ‘top English club’ after Arsenal triggered a £15m buyout clause him the Brazilian strikers Santos contract, according to the Express.

Barbosa – also known as Gabigol – has emerged as one of the hottest young talents in Brazilian football since breaking in to the Santos first team in 2013 and has been dubbed as the ‘next Neymar’ back in his homeland.

The 19-year-old progressed through the Santos youth ranks and has gone on to score 50 goals in 150 appearances for the club while he earned his first senior cap for the Brazilian national team during a win over Panama in May.

The teenagers potential caught the eye of Arsenal scouts and ESPN Brazil claimed earlier today that we’d triggered a buyout clause in Barbosa’s contract worth £15m (€18m) but were facing stiff competition from Fiorentina and Chinese outfit Hebei Fortune.

However, the Brazilian outlet suggested that the youngster favoured a move to North London and the Express now claim that the Barbosa has turned his back on a lucrative deal from China in order to join a ‘top English club’, thought to be Arsenal.

The newspaper cites Brazilian journalist Elia Junior – who works for Radio Bandeirantes – as the source of the information so it looks as though the Gunners are closing in on making their second big signing of the summer.

We’ll have to wait and see how much truth there is behind these reports but Arsene Wenger has been on the look-out for a new striker this summer and has been forced to identify other targets after Jamie Vardy snubbed a move to the Emirates last week.

Barbosa is a huge talent who is capable of playing out wide or through the middle as a centre-forward, so he’d give Wenger plenty of options in attack if he does end up completing a switch to Arsenal.

READ MORE –> Arsenal transfer news

There is obviously a concern over whether he’d qualify for a work permit as he wouldn’t meet the criteria but hopefully we’d be able to secure a ‘special talent’ visa. If not, we’d usually we’d send him out on loan to a foreign club to gain a European passport but Britain’s decision to leave the EU could scupper those plans.