Who is the Brazilian teenager Leicester have bid big bucks for?
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Whether Riyad Mahrez is staying at Leicester or not, the Foxes are preparing to strengthen their forward options with a hefty bid for a Brazilian teenager.
Reports indicate the defending Premier League champions are ready to offer £23m for Santos star Gabriel Barbosa, commonly known in his homeland as Gabigol.
The 19-year-old is currently representing his country at the Olympic Games, where the host nation have struggled in their opening two games with goalless draws against South Africa and Iraq.
Barbosa has started both of those outings, arriving in Rio having netted five goals in 10 Serie A games for Santos so far this season.
The Sao Paulo native enjoyed the best campaign of his young career last term when bagging 10 strikes and seven assists in 30 league games.
A majority of those outings came on the right wing for Peixe, which indicates he’d be in direct competition with Mahrez for playing time should he arrive at the King Power Stadium.
Rumours about the Players’ Player of the Year leaving Leicester continue to be rife, with Chelsea joining Arsenal as the latest mega club linked with his services.
The costly offer Leicester are supposedly about to make for Barbosa suggests he’d be a replacement for Mahrez, although as yet no bid for the Algerian has been submitted.
It has already been a hectic summer of transfer activity for Claudio Ranieri. Star midfielder N’Golo Kante’s move to Stamford Bridge was the highest-profile departure, while five fresh faces have arrived to bolster a Champions League-bound squad.
Ahmed Musa, Nampalys Mendy, Bartosz Kapustka, Ron-Robert Zieler and Luis Hernandez could yet be joined by another new recruit before the transfer window closes.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
