La Liga giants Barcelona have beaten Roma to Fluminese wonderkid Gerson Santos da Silva, with the attacking midfielder set to complete a move in the coming days.
The 18-year-old midfielder caught the eye of Europe’s elite after impressing in the 2015 South American Youth Football Championships before cementing a regular spot at the Rio de Janeiro outfit in Brazil’s Serie A.
According the Catalan sports daily Sport, The Giallorossi were initially in the hot-seat to sign the Brazil U20 international, but have since been forced to give up on the player as they do not have the financial might to complete with the Blaugrana.
Roma initially submitted a 16 million euro bid plus bonuses for Gerson, but have since withdrawn from the race as they turn their attentions to finalising Edin Dzeko’s 15 million euro move from Manchester City and have also expressed interest in Torino winger Bruno Peres.
This means that the Camp Nou outfit can now sort out the final details of the move for Gerson, who reportedly has already found a home in Barcelona.
Good! But that fee is too much for an unproven player when there’s Denis Suarez, Rafinha, Samper and Halilovic