This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

According to Sky Sports, Tottenham Hotspur chief scout Steve Hitchen may have had his eye caught by Flamengo striker Gabriel Barbosa when he was watching Gremio’s Everton Soares in the same game earlier this month, but the club are unlikely to land the attacker who could be his next Luis Suarez.

What’s the word, then?

Well, Sky Sports report that the north London outfit are tracking Soares, and that Hitchen cast an eye over his performance in the Copa Libertadores clash against Flamengo, in which he got the assist in a 1-1 draw.

However, Sky Sports also say that the 42-year-old may have been impressed with Barbosa, who has been in outstanding goalscoring form during his loan spell in his home country from Inter Milan.

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The 23-year-old, who was recently recalled to the Brazil squad for the first time in three years, has scored 26 goals in 31 appearances in all competitions for Flamengo in 2019, including two in the 5-0 second leg win against Gremio on Thursday.

Those sorts of stats are reminiscent of what another South American in Suarez used to produce for Ajax prior to his move to England, and Hitchen was the mastermind behind bringing him to Anfield when he worked for Liverpool, according to The Independent.

Unlikely to sign Barbosa?

The Inter Milan man could well have been another Suarez success story – the Uruguayan went on to score 82 times in 133 outings for the Reds – for Hitchen if he was impressed with him and was able to bring him to Spurs, but that appears unlikely to happen.

Earlier this week, Fox Sports in Brazil reported that the 23-year-old is set to snub any other potential offers from European clubs to join Flamengo in a permanent deal from Inter, worth €22m (£19m).

Given his form for his current loan club and the fact he scored 19 in 42 during a separate loan spell in 2018 with Santos, that could prove to be a real shame for Tottenham if they were keen, with Harry Kane still not having any senior/quality competition for his spot in north London.