Reports: Everton eye Inter Milan striker
What's the rumour?
Everton are looking to seal a stunning deal to sign Inter Milan striker, Gabriel Barbosa, on a loan deal before making the move permanent. It has been reported by Tutto Mercato Web that Gabriel was Marco Silva's first name on his transfer wishlist last summer, but the move failed to materialise. The Everton boss wants his man this time around.
In case you didn't know...
Inter Milan splashed out 30 million for Gabriel Barbosa two summers ago after the highly rated teenager was scouted by all the big clubs in the world. Santos made a windfall over his hype, but it turned out to be all bust as he failed to secure a first-team place at Inter.
He is currently on loan at Santos trying to force his way into the Inter setup.
The heart of the matter
Marco Silva is looking to get the Brazilian attacker on a loan deal for the rest of the season and then sign up on a permanent transfer. Inter boss, Luciano Spaletti has made it clear to his board that he does not want the youngster anywhere near his first team once he completes his loan period with Santos.
At the wake of that news, Inter have been actively scouring the world for a buyer for Gabriel.
Since the Serie A side are in the mood to negotiate a permanent transfer and not a loan deal, this intensifies negotiations. Everton are known to be wary of the fact that they have made many deals in the past two seasons and the players they have brought in have not made much of an impact except a few. Toffees board might be wary of accepting a permanent deal for misfiring Gabriel.
Rumor Rating: 7/10
Everton could very well do with a striker. Right now they are using Richarlison up front but with the arrival of Gabriel, Richarlison could be moved to his more favored winger role and that could shore up a huge new line of attack for Everton.
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What next?
Everton are also looking to sign Denis Suarez from Barcelona. The Toffees transfer strategy has been changed in the past few seasons if they continue on bringing in top players then a European place is not out of sights for the Merseyside club.