First of all it’s Higuain, an operation to be completed before Paul Pogba is sold to Manchester United.  Juventus and their quest to add attacking reinforcements may not stop with Pipita and Marko Pjaca either; there is always the name of Gabriel Barbosa or “Gabigol” to put into the equation. The 19-year-old scoring sensation of Santos, who, as we have been continually told over recent weeks, is another summer target for the bianconeri. As his agent has already stated to calciomercato.com, there has been no contact from Napoli and he remains deep in the thoughts of Marotta and Paratici.  

An initial offer from Juve was submitted in recent days to the Brazilian club, an offer of €18 million plus bonus which was not enough to convince Santos or more importantly, the various companies who owns him, to part with their crown jewel. Even the father of the player, who also owns a percentage in his son’s future, thought the bid unsatisfactory. So does that mean that the interest ends here? Absolutely not, Santos may continue to build a wall but one that isn’t insurmountable.
 

The bianconeri are keeping in close contact to the player’s agent Wagner Ribeiro, as well as Doyen Sports, two more of the player’s representatives. In late August another assault is expected because Santos are not keen to sell the player ahead of the Olympic Games where he will be representing his country and where they hope his value will rise even further. Juventus maintains a watching brief however but there will be factors of their own that determines whether they ultimately succeed in bringing the young Brazilian to Europe. Factors such as can they off-load Simone Zaza and just how much competition they will face to acquire Gabigol. Marotta and Paratici know that €25 million will seal the deal with the player’s father preferring his son to head to one of the big European leagues. Patience looks to be Juve’s best weapon, in other words, Juve’s chase for Gabigol is far from over.

Original by Fabrizio Romano. Adapted and translated by Steve Mitchell