Barcelona keen to do deal for Brazilian teenager Gabriel Jesus
Gabriel Jesus is the latest star to emerge in Brazilian football. At 19, he is a goal scorer capable of playing wide, is good technically and is impressing for Palmeiras. His progression has interested Europe’s biggest clubs and SPORT have learned that Barcelona have began to make a move for him.
The moment the Catalan club became aware Juventus has initiated talks for Gabriel Jesus, they acted quickly to block the negotiations. There is real interest in the forward who is perhaps the most highly-rated player in Brazilian football since Neymar, who left Santos for Barcelona in 2013.
The cost of the deal would be less than 20 million euros, although the competition could force that price up. When he signed his last contract, Gabriel Jesus introduced a clause which would lower his buy-out from 40 million euros to 24 million euros for five of Europe’s biggest clubs: Barça, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain.
As with all young Brazilian promises, his economic rights are divided: 55 per cent to agents in his country, 15 per cent to the player himself and 30 per cent to Palmeiras. His agents are keen to do a deal this summer, taking advantage of the fact he’s going to play in the Olympic Games. Palmeiras, meanwhile, feel he will definitely leave and have already signed Roger Guedes (a 19-year-old from Criciuma). Once Gabriel Jesus is sold, the club hope to be able to keep him on loan until December, when the Brasileirao finishes.
The negotiating will not be easy because he is represented in Europe by the Italian super agent Giovanni Branchini, who Barça don’t have a good relationship with. In addition, the list of hopeful clubs is long and the competition will be tough. Juve have been working on a deal for the longest. In Italy they’ve reported that Dani Alves’ new team have already offered 20 million euros.
Elsewhere, Bayern Munich, who traditionally keep a keen eye on the Brazilian market, are also going in strong. Their sporting director Michael Reschke was in Brazil recently.
Another German team is also in the hunt, the recently promoted RB Leipzig. Their sporting director Ralk Rangnick has also been in Brazil to try and force through a deal, but, in principle, they have ruled out taking things further because the cost of the operation is “prohibitive”. Rangnick, in his time at Hoffenheim, stood out for his signing of young Brazilians, such as Luiz Gustavo and Roberto Firmino.
Other clubs interested include Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, who in recent months have had scouts in Brazil.
NEW STRATEGY
The move for Gabriel marks a new strategy from Barcelona, who are looking to sign the best under-20 players in South America. Last year, they obtained a preferential option on three Fluminense players: Gerson, who ended up at Roma because Barça didn’t want to pay the 15 million euros plus variables; Kenedy, who is now at Chelsea; and Marlon, who is still at Flu, but there has been interest from Villarreal recently.
This year, Barça have closed a deal for Colombian central defender Davinson Sanchez, 20, who has impressed for Atletico Nacional in the current addition of the Copa Libertadores. In principle, he will do pre-season with Luis Enrique’s team and after that play for Barça B.
