Transfer rumour · archive

Gabriel Mec to Shakhtar Donetsk

This move fell through. Last report: Bolavip Grêmio, 27 July 2026.

Shakhtar Donetsk are in active negotiations with Grêmio over the signing of 18-year-old midfielder Gabriel Mec. Talks are described as well underway, with Shakhtar having submitted a bid of €11m for a player whose market value sits at around €12m. Grêmio hold Mec under contract until June 2027, so they are in no rush to sell cheaply, and the fee range in discussion currently runs between €11m and €14m. The story rests on a single post from Fabrizio Romano, published on 21 July 2026, in which he characterised negotiations as progressing and Shakhtar as working hard to land ambitious targets for Champions League football. Romano is a reliably well-sourced reporter whose output at this level of specificity carries genuine weight, though a second corroborating voice has yet to surface. For now this is against the odds. The gap between Shakhtar's opening bid and Grêmio's likely asking price is not enormous, but Grêmio have time on their side and no obvious pressure to accept the lower end of the range. If Shakhtar push to the top of the reported bracket, the deal becomes considerably more plausible, but it is not close to done. Grêmio have completed sales in this bracket before. They sold a player to Monaco for €11m in 2022, and have previously agreed fees of €12m with both Brentford and Spartak Moscow, so an exit in the €11m to €14m range would sit squarely within the club's established pattern. The concrete trigger to watch is whether Grêmio accept a formal improved offer. Any movement on the fee, or the emergence of a competing club, would shift the picture quickly.

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