After those exciting initial claims about West Ham’s bid for Flamengo midfielder Gustavo Cuellar, things are getting divided in the past couple of days.
Just so we can recall the story from the beginning, it was journalist Gustavo Henrique who first claimed the player is joining the Hammers after the Copa America in a €28m deal.
The claims had a big coverage in the Brazilian and in the Colombian media, but it looked like no one could confirm the story.
Then at the start of the week, reliable website Globo Esporte said Flamengo are waiting for bids for Cuellar, but not of such a big amount.
An offer of €10m would be enough to negotiate, and they would use the Copa America as a showcase to attract interested clubs. However, there’s also interest in keeping him at the club.
The journalist now records most of his videos cheering up fans, saying he’s only bringing good news, making things quite informal. So that’s a reason why we’ve taken a step back since his first claims on the radio, which looked more serious.
Journalist Mauro Cezar Pereira, who works for ESPN, and is one of the best in the country, isn’t really buying the story. He doesn’t have a go directly at Gustavo Henrique, but makes it clear on his Twitter that it’s unlikely that Cuellar will get many offers in the summer. He also believes there’s someone taking advantage from the rumours.
“Cuellar is 26 years old, has never been an absolute starter for the Colombian national team, the Copa América hasn’t even started, we don’t know if he will have many minutes, but there are already those who are considering a possible sale abroad due to his participation in the tournament. Who is interested in such speculation?”
