Chelsea have suffered a Deja-Vu kind of a moment on their approach for Santos youngster Gabriel Barbosa, The Sun reports.
The Brazilian forward has rejected a £25.7m switch to Stamford Bridge in favor of gaining more confidence at his current club.
Back in 2010, The Blues were also turned down on their efforts on signing an other Santos star, Neymar, when the West London club failed to reach the player’s £30m release clause.
The 19-year-old, also known as ‘Gabrigol’, has already scored 22 goals for the club in just 80 appearances, and got to represent his country at this summer’s Copa America in United States.
Hence Gabriel has attracted a lot of interest from clubs around Europe, including Antonio Conte’s Chelsea, and Pairs Saint-Germain, Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund.
The Brazilian wonder-kid scored over 600 goals for Santos’ junior sides, which granted him a contract at the club till 2021, and a staggering release clause of £42m.
The teenager is likely to link up with Neymar in this summer’s Olympics, as the hosts look to reverse their poor performances at Copa America.
