Bahia reveals whether it will make a million-dollar investment to get Gabigol from Flamengo

In the relationship between Gabigol and coach Tite at Flamengo, only the field is capable of speaking. Between the striker and coach, there is practically no dialogue, and the cold and silent war dictates that only one of them should remain at the club for the season in 2025.

No atmosphere with the coaching staff and also with the squad , Gabriel Barbosa has been convinced to change and airs, but even the clubs that expressed interest in the first half of the year backed away. With a contract at Flamengo until the end of December, Gabigol had offers from Palmeiras, Corinthians and Santos, was mentioned at Grêmio, but did not want to sign a pre-contract with any team.

The expectation was to try to turn things around on top in the second half, otherwise he would end his time at Flamengo like the idol he became, without any fuss.

Tite's arrival last year changed the entire perspective of the striker, who was already in a bad phase previously, and lost his place once and for all to Pedro with the presence of the new coach. With the center forward's recent injury, Tite kept Gabigol at the end of the line, under the argument that Carlinhos and Bruno Henrique perform better in the scheme with a reference man .

Without understanding the criteria, Gabi maintains her dedication to the basic level of professionalism in training, as it is not part of the coach's or the club's plans for a possible renewal. With the chances of a comeback practically buried, the two possible paths are to wait for the election in Flamengo to find out if Tite will remain with the next president; or wait for the end of the contract to freely listen to proposals again. Palmeiras and Santos have not yet given up on the idea, and Bahia appears as an option, as it has good investment capacity.

Retired from the field since 2017, former midfielder Zé Roberto, who had a spell at Flamengoin the 90s, it is looking to buy 90% of SAF from São Bento, a club in São Paulo. According to GE, a meeting scheduled for this Wednesday night (18) could decree the sale of the Sorocaba team to the company Flash Forward, which belongs to the former player.

Zé Roberto is the main name of the company. However, the group also has partners such as former athlete Fransérgio and businessman Tiago Ribeiro (former CEO of Estoril). In addition to Flamengo, Zé played in Brazilian football with the shirts of Palmeiras, Santos and Grêmio. In Europe, the former athlete defended giants such as Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

The offer is R$130 million, which would be paid in installments. This amount would be invested on a specific basis in the football team and the club’s structure. The project is to take São Bento to the elite of São Paulo football and Brazilian Series B in up to six seasons.

The passage of Zé Roberto for Flamengo

Revelation from Portuguesa-SP, Zé Roberto stood out at Lusa and caught the attention of Real Madrid in 1997. However, the player had difficulty fitting into the Spanish club and was loaned to Flamengo in 1998.

At Flamengo, Zé Roberto was a starter in the Campeonato Carioca competition, entered the field 23 times and aroused the interest of Bayer Leverkusen , leaving Gávea in the same season. As an athlete, the former midfielder also played in the 2006 World Cup for the Brazilian team.

This last Sunday (15), Bahia faced Atlético-MG after being eliminated by Flamengo in the Copa do Brasil. In a game with a totally different stance, Rogério Ceni's team won by a score of 3-0. After the match, the coach was asked about the change in stance compared to the defeat to Mais Querido.

< “There was no training to correct this. What this team produces is the result of eight months of work. The stance against Flamengo was really (bad)... let's also mention here Flamengo's construction quality, which is different, they are players of a very high level”, said Rogério Ceni in a press conference.

Against Flamengo Atlético-MG, Bahia managed to finish 16 times, four of which were on target. Now against Flamengo, The Bahian team had eight shots, but none on goal. Remembering that Rubro-Negro won 1-0, with a goal from Arrascaeta.

TEAM SITUATION IN THE BRASILEIRÃO

Mais Querido reached 45 points in the classification of the Brasileirão after a draw with Vasco. Thus, the team led by Tite remains in fourth place, but with São Paulo and Bahia on their heels, as they won and reached 44 and 42, respectively.

NEXT GAME

Now , Mais Querido focuses on the Libertadores. Rubro-Negro takes the field next Thursday (19), in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the competition against Peñarol, at Maracanã, at 7pm.