The president of Santos, Marcelo Teixeira, announced this Friday (2) the return of striker Gabriel Barbosa, known as Gabigol, aged 29. Linked to Cruzeiro, he will defend the São Paulo club on loan until December this year. The athlete is awaiting medical examinations.
The agreement between the parties was reached on Thursday (1st), and the player did not need to present himself for the pre-season of the team from Minas Gerais, now led by Tite. Gabigol and Tite worked together at Flamengo, in the 2023 and 2024 seasons, and did not cultivate a good relationship.
When leaving the Rio team for Belo Horizonte, Gabigol even said that Tite did not respect him as an athlete. During his period as coach of the Brazilian national team (2016–2022), the coach also gave the striker few opportunities.
Now under the command of Juan Pablo Vojvoda, Gabigol will return to the club for which he was revealed and played professionally from 2013 and 2016 and in 2018. During this period, he played 210 matches, scored 84 goals and provided 13 assists. He was top scorer in the 2018 Brazilian Championship, with 18 goals, and three times top scorer in the Copa do Brasil, in addition to having won two editions of the Campeonato Paulista (2015 and 2016).
The contract with the Vila Belmiro club provides for a purchase option at the end of the loan period.
“We are waiting for Gabriel for routine medical examinations. He has an identity with the club and has always demonstrated, at least since December, the desire to return”, stated the black and white president, Marcelo Teixeira.
“We noticed that he is focused, prepared and determined to help in a challenging, difficult year, with many competitions. We need athletes determined not to be just in name, but to collaborate and contribute with the quality they have”, he added.
Santos and Cruzeiro will share Gabigol’s salary. The Minas Gerais club will not receive immediate compensation for the loan and will continue to bear other costs linked to the player, such as gloves.
The agreement comes days after Santos announced the renewal of Neymar’s contract. The striker chose to extend his contract with the club until the end of this year.
