Chelsea to sign highly rated attacker ahead of Arsenal

Chelsea are hoping to win the race to sign highly-
rated Brazilian striker Gabriel Barbosa after tabling
a £25m bid for the Arsenal and Juventus target,
according to the Mirror .
Barbosa – also known as Gabigol – has become
one of the hottest young prospects in Brazilian
football since breaking in to the Santos first team in
2013 and has been likened to Barcelona super-star
Neymar.
The 19-year-old’s potential caught the eye of
Arsenal scouts and it looked as though he was
heading to north London as the Express reported
just over two weeks ago that the striker had agreed
a deal to join a ‘top English side’ – thought to be the
Gunners.
However, talk of a switch to Arsenal has quietened
down in recent days and while Juventus have
reportedly expressed their interest in signing
Gabigol, it looks like Chelsea are now in pole
position to secure his signature.
That’s because the Mirror claim that Chelsea have
a £25m bid on the table for the Santos youngster
and Gabigol has supposedly confirmed his interest
in moving to Stamford Bridge this summer.
Antonio Conte finally began work as the new Blues
boss yesterday but his employers have been
working hard on negotiating deals for his transfer
targets for several weeks and Michy Batshuayi has
already arrived from Marseille.
But it looks like Conte is keen to further strengthen
his attacking options as he plans to use two
strikers in his preferred 3-5-2 formation next
season with Gabigol seemingly firmly on his radar.
The South American talent is capable of playing out
wide or through the middle as a centre-forward to
he’d give Conte plenty of options in the final third if
he does end up completing a move to West London.
We’ll have to wait and see how things develop over
the coming days but until Chelsea get a deal agreed
there is still time for the likes of Arsenal or
Juventus to step-up their interest in Gabigol again.
However, the Blues remain favourites and Gabigol
would be an exciting addition for Chelsea, although
I’m sure Conte would ideally want him on board
when they fly out to the United States for the pre-
season tour later this month.