Gabriel Barbosa’s agent Junior Pedroso has opened up about Chelsea’s interest in his client during the January transfer window.
The 23-year-old eventually joined Flamengo permanently after helping them win the Copa Libertadores.
But, considering the reported £14million the Brazilian club paid Inter Milan (Daily Mail), Chelsea might have missed out on a potential bargain.
His agent Pedroso said his client attracted interest from a number of clubs, including Chelsea.
Pedroso told Brazilian journalist Jorge Nicola on YouTube: “Gabriel was in great form, obviously, he drew the attention of many big clubs.
“But who really advanced were two teams in Germany and a team in England that made a proposal, which was West Ham. We had flirted with Chelsea and some other clubs.
“But for the project that was presented in January, Flamengo were the best project for him to take off in his career.”
Barbosa joined Flamengo on loan in January 2019, where he had an unbelievable record of 25 goals and eight assists from 29 appearances in Brazil’s top division and became the league’s top scorer for the 2019 season.
He has not had the best form in Europe, both at Inter and Benfica (loan), where he scored just one goal in two seasons.
In his defence, in those two spells, he was not given enough chances, picking up less than 160 minutes of first-team football combined for both clubs.