Speaking to the Brazilian media at the weekend, the father of Flamengo star Gerson revealed that Arsenal are interested in the midfielder.
Marcos Santos, who also works as his agent, was interviewed by Jorge Nicola, talking about the great time the player is having at the Rio de Janeiro side.
“Nobody knew about Arsenal, but now that I’m telling you, everyone will know,” are the quotes on Nicola’s Yahoo blog, which have been covered by the English media in the past couple of days.
But it turns out that Gerson’s dad said more than that. The interview, which is available on Youtube, has him claiming that he considers Raul Sanllehi to be a friend.
The chat was coming to an end, with Marcos Santos confirming there have been many approaches for his son. Then Jorge Nicola asked him for some exclusive information to finish the conversation, and that’s when Gerson’s father revealed Arsenal’s interest.
“Seriously? Arsenal. Now everyone knows.”
Jorge Nicola then asked if it’s club director Edu Gaspar who’s been handling the talks, and Marcos Santos denied it.
“No. Because this is what happens… we have the director there that we… it didn’t come from him either. But this director is, shall we say, I consider him kind of a friend, Raul. It was with Raul that we did the negotiation for Gerson when he was at Barcelona. And today Raul is at Arsenal.”
Following the big coverage of this story in Brazil, website UOL also brings an article on Gerson’s future today. They claim that the midfielder is very happy at Flamengo, and isn’t planning a move to Europe soon, as he aims for a place at the national team first.
Gerson played for Roma between 2016 and 2018, and had problems at the Serie A side. That’s why just like his teammate Gabigol, who recently rejected a move to West Ham, he’s not desperate to make a move back to Europe.
