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West Ham United may very well find themselves back on the trail for Serie A giant Tiago Gabriel in the near future, and Lecce’s relegation from the top-flight of Italian football would surely guarantee the centre-back’s eventual departure.
West Ham reportedly offered £16 million for Gabriel in the lead up to the January transfer window.
Lecce’s highly-experienced technical director Pantaleo Corvino rejected the bid, while confirming that the likes of Juventus are also keen on the Portugal Under-21 international. Understandably, the Giallorossi did not want to cash in on Tiago Gabriel when they still had shot at survival.
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Lecce will have no choice but to soften their stance, however, if relegation back to Serie B is confirmed.
West Ham United should be watching Tiago Gabriel situation closely
Gianluca di Marzio, one of the most respected transfer reporters in Italy, believes that Gabriel will become the latest talented young player flipped for profit by Corvino.
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“With Tiago Gabriel, Lecce are poised to make yet another capital gain from the Corvino management,” he says on Tuttomerctoweb’s Cafe di Marzio podcast, while predicting that the eventual fee will be around £10 million more than West Ham’s winter offer.
“A player who today is worth at least 25 to 30 million euros, knowing the prices that Lecce set for their players.
“There are already important top clubs, not only in Italy, willing to negotiate with Lecce to sign the Portuguese defender. In Italy, one of the most interested teams is Milan, even if no real negotiations have been started yet. Corvino is one of the great architects of a truly extraordinary transfer market, not only with Lecce but also during his time at Fiorentina and Bologna.”
Gabriel is therefore poised to follow in the footsteps of such luminaries as Patrick Dorgu, Dusan Vlahovic, Federico Chiesa, Stefan Jovetic and Nikola Milenkovic.
Axel Disasi and Dinos Mavropanos facing uncertain futures
Still only 21 years of age, Gabriel has started 32 Serie A matches this season. His equaliser against Fiorentina on Monday night ensured that Lecce remain level on points with Jamie Vardy’s 17th-place Cremonese heading into the final five matchdays of the campaign.
Gabriel has been likened to Chelsea icon Ricardo Carvalho, due to his aerial presence and his qualities in possession.
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Max Kilman is expected to leave West Ham this summer, though first-choice partnership Axel Disasi and Konstantinos Mavropanos are also facing uncertain futures.
Thus, necessitating the potential pursuit of a replacement; Gabriel joining Charlie Cresswell, Roggerio Nyakossi and Federico Gatti on a list of alleged targets.
Disasi is loving life at West Ham but Chelsea hold the cards. Konstantinos Mavropanos is reportedly a Borussia Dortmund target, meanwhile, though the Hammers are remaining calm regarding the Greek powerhouse.
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