Flamengo manager Jorge Sampaoli now wants to sign Fulham forward Carlos Vinicius this summer.
A report from Brazilian outlet Torcedores suggests that the 28 year old is one of the names on the experienced manager’s wishlist.
It’s not been the easiest start to his Fulham career for Carlos Vinicius.
Brought in right at the end of the summer transfer window as back up to Aleksandar Mitrovic, his minutes were limited at first.
However, when called upon, Vinicius has struggled to make the same impact as the prolific Serbian.
He only has two goals in 21 league appearances, although many of those have come from the bench.
Vinicius will always be considered a cult hero at Craven Cottage though for nodding in the winner against rivals Chelsea.
It earned Marco Silva’s side their first Premier League win over their local rivals in over a decade.
Flamengo manager Jorge Sampaoli only took the job in the past week, but has already added Fulham’s Vinicius to his list of preferred signings.
The £9.5m forward on paper looks like a good back up to Mitrovic, but it hasn’t worked like that in reality.
Mitrovic’s link up play and work outside the penalty area is seriously underrated.
Unfortunately, Carlos Vinicius hasn’t been able to deliver that kind of performance in his absence.
Against Everton, Daniel James proved he could be the alternative Fulham need during Mitrovic’s ban.
He’s a completely different player to Fulham’s other forwards, but was still very difficult to deal with.
Flamengo boss Sampaoli clearly sees something in Vinicius though, and Fulham will hope they can make a profit on the Brazilian.
It could open up a space in the squad for a new forward, or the reintroduction of Rodrigo Muniz or Jay Stansfield.