Gabigol found a home and a way forward for his career at Flamengo

Gabriel Barbosa, better known as Gabigol, has joined Flamengo on a permanent move, keeping him with the club that has seen him flourish.

Gabriel Barbosa’s permanent transfer to Flamengo may be viewed in some quarters as a step backward, but the 23-year-old Brazilian is joining one of the best South American sides in recent memory. One which has proven it can mix it with Europe’s finest. And one of which he is an integral part.

Barbosa spent last season on loan at the Brazilian and South American champions from Inter Milan, having failed to make his mark in Europe after moving to Serie A from Santos in 2016.

It could be said that this was through no fault of his own. The youngster was barely given a chance at Inter and didn’t even start a league game during his time there, although storming off the field after realizing he wouldn’t be coming off the bench in a game against Lazio didn’t help his cause.

“I recognize my error and would like to state my sincere apologies to all of the Nerazzurri fans that always support me and my team-mates,” he said in an apology following the incident.

Putting his disappointing spell in Europe behind him, Gabriel now joins Flamengo on a permanent basis. The club paid a $19 million transfer fee to Inter, using some of the $34 million they just received from the sale of 18-year-old Reinier Jesus to Real Madrid

https://twitter.com/Flamengo/status/1222140856204955649?s=20.

Rather than being a backward step in Gabriel’s career, it’s a sensible move to a team that are one of the best supported, and one of the most impressive sides in world soccer at this moment in time, and he has already played a big part in helping them reach their current status.

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When a prolific goalscoring record in Santos’ youth teams earned Gabriel Barbosa the nickname ‘Gabigol’, the onus to find the back of the net would be on him forever.

A reasonable but hardly prolific record in the Santos first team made sure the moniker lingered, but just two goals in 17 months in Europe with Inter and Benfica made the nickname more tormenting than complimentary.

A successful loan move home followed, producing 18 goals in 35 games for his boyhood club Santos. It felt like the Gabigol who had been seen scoring for fun in the youth teams had finally arrived at senior level.

Inter weren’t convinced, though, and loaned the then 22-year-old back to Brazil, this time to Flamengo. It was here, in Rio de Janeiro, that ‘Gabigol’ truly arrived on the scene.

He began the season with two goals in four games under Abel Braga, but it was the arrival in June of new head coach Jorge Jesus which really propelled the young striker and his team to new levels.

He scored seven goals in Jesus’ first six games in charge, also adding three assists in a 6-1 rout of Goias. He went on to score 25 goals in 29 league games in 2019, adding nine in 12 in the Copa Libertadores. GabiGOL.

Portuguese manager Jesus gave the Brazilian league the team it has been threatening to produce for some time. With more money floating around compared to its South American neighbors, the potential to produce a dominant side in the region finally arrived in the shape of its most supported club.

Flamengo strolled to the Serie A title finishing 16 points ahead of Gabriel’s former club, Santos, and also claimed the biggest prize in South American football — the Copa Libertadores — for the first time since 1981.

Having topped their group due to a goal difference only slightly better than Uruguayan side Penarol and LDU Quito of Ecuador, Flamengo struggled in the last 16 against another side from Ecuador, Emelec, needing penalties to advance. They then dispatched fellow Brazilian sides Internacional and Gremio with comparative ease.

The final saw them come up against defending champions River Plate and wily tactician Marcelo Gallardo, the Argentine head coach who has attracted admiring glances from across the globe.

River took an early lead in Lima, one which they were still holding on to as the game entered its final minutes. Enter Gabriel, enter Gabigol. Two goals in two minutes secured the most dramatic of victories and wrote the name of the former Santos youth into Flamengo folklore.

It was one of the moments of 2019, it was one of the most memorable moments in Libertadores history, and in typical Libertadores fashion, the hero was sent off shortly before the final whistle sounded.

Having been booked for taking off his shirt and displaying it to the crowd after scoring the winner, he was then shown red during an incident that saw River’s Exequiel Palacios (now at Bayer Leverkusen) sent off for a foul on Bruno Henrique.

This only added to the legend of this game and to that of the player who won it for Flamengo in the dying seconds.

Their reward was a Club World Cup campaign which produced a repeat of the 1981 Intercontinental Cup final against Liverpool.

Jurgen Klopp’s side are widely considered the best on the planet, flying at the top of the Premier League after winning the Champions League in 2019, but they needed extra time to see off Flamengo and claim a narrow 1-0 victory.

Gabriel may be moving away from the glare of European football but he is not moving off the radar. In the grand scheme of things, and for his own career, this is a step forward. A step up.

This Flamengo squad contains former European stars such as Diego Alves, Rafinha, Diego Ribas, and Filipe Luis, as well as some of South America’s best including Bruno Henrique, Rodrigo Caio, Gerson, Everton Ribeiro, and Giorgian De Arrascaeta.

Among players called up for the Brazil national team in the past year, 14 of them play their club football domestically. Gabriel himself was called up for the first time by current national team coach Tite for friendlies against Senegal and Nigeria, earning his first cap since 2016.

Moving from Europe to Brazil is no longer a move out of the spotlight as far as the national team is concerned, and players such as Gabriel, head coaches such as Jorge Jesus, and teams such as Flamengo will only increase the attention on the Brazilian league.

Gabriel’s high profile return will show that Flamengo mean business, and it is beneficial for the player, the club, and the league. Maybe Gabigol won’t be the last to make the step up from Europe to Brazil.