Barcelona sporting director Robert Fernandez has been in South America recently, looking at possible transfer deals for the club.
Barcelona aren’t prepared to pay the same fee as Manchester City for the Palmeiras player, and though the club could get Gabriel Jesus for a lower price, thanks to a clause, that the player and his agent receive a percentage of a transfer makes things difficult.
It’s directly in the interests of Gabriel Jesus that a transfer fee is as high as possible. Therefore, Barcelona are walking away from the ‘impossible’ situation, having held a meeting with people close to the Brazilian.
Manchester City weren’t one of the clubs entitled to buy Gabriel Jesus for a lower clause amount, so paying more isn’t so absurd for them.
Barcelona have now moved on to trying to sign Gremio’s Luan, another Brazilian talent. If that fails then a move for Sao Paulo’s Jonathan Calleri is a possibility.