The 22-year-old endured a nightmare spell in Italy with Roma but has been a key performer for his side since returning to Brazil
Arsenal, Tottenham and Borussia Dortmund are interested in signing Flamengo midfielder Gerson, according to the player’s father.
Marcos Santos, who manages Gerson’s career, also explained the nightmare three-year spell the 22-year-old endured at Roma.
According to Santos, Gerson moved to Roma in 2016 ahead of Barcelona because former club Fluminense needed a bigger transfer fee – but things quickly went downhill from there.
“We had everything settled, signed,” he told Yahoo.
“But Barcelona only wanted to pay €8 million (£6m/$9m) to Fluminense, who really needed the money. So, we decided to go with Roma, who offered €16m (£12m/$17m).
“They [Roma] wanted me to sign with an agent. They screwed us there. They screwed us so much that we couldn’t rent a house; we had to stay in a hotel for three months.
“All the houses we tried to rent, I had to talk to this businessman, whose name I don’t even want to stay. We only solved this when Gerson talked to [Francesco] Totti. We moved to Totti’s apartment.
“It just didn’t work. I remember that Gerson scored two goals against Fiorentina and never played again.
“There was a time when he was put on the wing, without ever having trained there, to mark [Gonzalo] Higuain. But, anyway… thank God we managed to get out.”
In all, Gerson played 42 times for Roma, scoring two goals. Following a season on loan at Fiorentina, he returned to his home country with Flamengo in July 2019 as the most expensive Brazilian signed by a Brazilian club.
Santos says Palmeiras, Corinthians, Gremio and Atletico Mineiro all tried to sign Gerson on loan, but Roma only wanted to sell him.
Now, he claims Arsenal, Spurs and Dortmund are all interested.
“Nobody knew about Arsenal, but now that I’m telling you, everyone will know,” he said.
On the reported interest of Spurs and Dortmund, he added: “Everyone you hear there is true. But they have only enquired.”
Gerson has played 43 times for Flamengo since his return to Brazil, named in the Serie A team of the year as his side won the league title and Copa Libertadores double in 2019.
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