Italian side Fiorentina are strongly interested in two exciting young talents from the same academy that produced Brazil"s current poster-boy, Neymar.
According to Brazilian journalist Jorge Nicola, Fiorentina"s South American representative Ângelo Arquilha will arrive this week in São Paulo to make official proposals for 19-year-olf forward Gabriel “Gabigol" Barbosa and 18-year-old midfielder Thiago Maia. The proposal for the attacker is believed to be around €15 million, and €7 million for the young midfielder. Both players have been called up by Dunga for Brazil U23"s friendly games later this month. The interest of Fiorentina is so serious that, even before the meeting with Santos, representatives of the players [Wagner Ribeiro and Juan Figer] have been consulted.
In addition to the Italian team, Bayer Leverkusen and Atlético Madrid also emerge as strong competitors in the race for Thiago Maia. ESPN Brasil report that the German club"s representatives even attended Santos" derby against Palmeiras in February to watch the player. On the other hand, Atlético Madrid resumed their interest in the player in recent weeks. Maia was linked to several clubs after a delay in accepting a renewal offer last year, and his representative, Juan Figer, settled a verbal agreement with Atlético for the player to sign a five-year bond in February after terminating his contract at Santos. The report reckons Thiago Maia has been consulted by other teams like Manchester United, Chelsea, Monaco and Juventus.
Italian side Fiorentina are strongly interested in two exciting young talents from the same academy that produced Brazil"s current poster-boy, Neymar.
According to Brazilian journalist Jorge Nicola, Fiorentina"s South American representative Ângelo Arquilha will arrive this week in São Paulo to make official proposals for 19-year-olf forward Gabriel “Gabigol" Barbosa and 18-year-old midfielder Thiago Maia. The proposal for the attacker is believed to be around €15 million, and €7 million for the young midfielder. Both players have been called up by Dunga for Brazil U23"s friendly games later this month. The interest of Fiorentina is so serious that, even before the meeting with Santos, representatives of the players [Wagner Ribeiro and Juan Figer] have been consulted.
In addition to the Italian team, Bayer Leverkusen and Atlético Madrid also emerge as strong competitors in the race for Thiago Maia. ESPN Brasil report that the German club"s representatives even attended Santos" derby against Palmeiras in February to watch the player. On the other hand, Atlético Madrid resumed their interest in the player in recent weeks. Maia was linked to several clubs after a delay in accepting a renewal offer last year, and his representative, Juan Figer, settled a verbal agreement with Atlético for the player to sign a five-year bond in February after terminating his contract at Santos. The report reckons Thiago Maia has been consulted by other teams like Manchester United, Chelsea, Monaco and Juventus.
