Brazilian forward Barbosa turns down Valencia offer

Brazilian forward Gabriel Barbosa has rejected an offer to join Valencia, committing himself to Santos until the end of the year, the Brazilian club's coach said.

Gabriel has scored 13 goals for Santos since rejoining his original club in January on a year-long loan from Inter Milan, reports Xinhua news agency.

Santos coach Alexi Stival revealed on Friday that the 21-year-old has received offers from Valencia and an unspecified club in the Middle East.

"He is very important to us. He has a proposal from Valencia and from the Arab world, but he does not want to go because he doesn't think it would be fair to leave his teammates like that," Stival, who is better known as Cuca, told reporters.

"I wasn't supposed to say anything about it but fans have to understand who is paddling in the same direction as the rest of the team."

Meanwhile Cuca ruled out losing Lucas Verissimo during the European summer transfer window amid reports linking the centre-back with Torino and Zenit Saint Petersburg.

Santos are currently 15th in Brazil's 20-team Serie A standings with the season nearly at its halfway point.

--IANS

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