The Guardian has revealed that West Ham United have joined the race for the 22-year-old Brazilian as they look to add more firepower in the January transfer window. The Inter Milan striker has struggled for the Serie A side, making just 10 appearances while scoring one goal. He joined the Serie A giants in 2016 and has since spent nearly two years out on loan with Benfica and Santos with Luciano Spaletti clearly not interested in using him.
In fact, considering the amount of quality talent at Spaletti’s disposal, it does not look like he will have a lot to do once his loan spell with Santos comes to an end.
This makes things easier for West Ham and Manuel Pellegrini as they need to add firepower to a struggling front-line that has depended on Marko Arnautovic far too much over the last few seasons. While the Serbian has adapted brilliantly to his new role as a centre-forward, his recurring knee problems have been a permanent headache for Manuel Pellegrini.
While Felipe Anderson has made up in his absence with six goals, and Javier Hernandez has finally found his shooting boots with three in his last four games, the London side is looking for someone far more consistent and a regular threat in front of the goal. That’s something Gabigol has done brilliantly for Santos over his loan spell, scoring 20 goals in 47 appearances for the Brazilian side in his second spell at the club.
And with Inter Milan looking to let the 22-year old go out on loan with an option to make things permanent, Manuel Pellegrini could use his services. However, the Chilean boss will have to use a strong hand with the Brazilian, as it was his attitude that caused him to fall out of favour at Inter Milan and even Benfica during his loan spell.
Dutch legend Frank De Boer even went on to say:
“He didn’t understand that he had to train hard. It’s no coincidence that with me he practically never played for Inter. The potential is there to be a fantastic player, as he has a great left foot, but European football is not the same as in Brazil. I hope he can learn that soon; otherwise, it’ll be a loss for Brazilian football too.”
Well, Pellegrini is an experienced coach with a wealth of knowledge when it comes to dealing with different players and hopefully, he will be able to extract the best out of Gabigol.