Gerson returns to Europe. The midfielder is leaving Flamengo for a five-year contract with Olympique Marseille, reports L’Equipe Saturday. After negotiations of more than twenty days, the clubs have found each other in a transfer fee of twenty million euros plus bonuses. The switch has not yet been officially confirmed by Flamengo or Olympique Marseille.
Gerson, 24, comes from the youth academy of Fluminense. He made his debut for the club’s first team in February 2015 and played a total of 31 games in Série A, before moving to AS Roma in January 2016 for around €16 million. The left leg did not live up to the high expectations in the Stadio Olimpico. He was only ten times in his first two seasons in Serie A, after which he was transferred to Fiorentina on a rental basis in the 2018/19 season.
He played 36 league matches for Fiorentina, scoring 3 goals. Gerson still had an ongoing contract with Roma, but in the summer of 2019 it became clear that his perspective was very limited. Roma therefore let him leave for Flamengo for 11.8 million euros, which Gerson signed until the end of 2023. Since then, he has played 62 league matches and his market value has increased significantly, as witnessed by his new transfer of 20 million euros. Roma is entitled to ten percent of the commutation sum.
Gerson is currently at a training camp in Serbia with the Olympic team of Brazil, in which he plays together with Antony of Ajax, among others. If the medical examination does not pose a problem, he will become one of the most expensive purchases ever from Olympique Marseille. Only Dimitri Payet (29.3 million euros in January 2017) and Kevin Strootman (25 million euros in August 2018) were ever brought in for more money. The arrival of Gerson is therefore a new sign of the far-reaching ambitions of the American owner Frank McCourt.
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