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Barcelona are being tipped to sign Sao Paulo wonderkid Gustavo Maia by the 19-year-old winger’s agent.
Danilo Silva told Radio Transamerica that he is confident that Barcelona will snap up the Brazilian starlet and revealed Maia is already preparing for a move to Spain.
“We are sure Barcelona will complete the purchase. There was already a signal from the club and [on Monday] Maia started private Spanish lessons to get more prepared. Other clubs came to us in the last few months but he never had any doubt, he always wanted Barcelona.”
Barcelona have already purchased an option to sign Maia. Sao Paulo’s executive manager, Alexandre Pássaro, confirmed the news to ESPN Brasil in March.
“We sold the option to buy him for €1 million. Barcelona can buy him in half a year, in the case they want him. He has a value of €4.5 million. It is one of those things in which we try to bring in money without necessarily losing the player in this instance.”
The Catalan giants have until the end of June to sign Maia permanently.
Deal Not Done Yet?
Despite Silva’s confidence, the deal is not done yet. Passaro has said he is yet to hear definitely from Barcelona that they will land the teenager.
“Whether he will go to Barcelona or not, we can’t be sure, because they have until June 30 to notify us and they still haven’t. The last time I spoke to them they said everything is very uncertain. La Liga set the restart of games for June 11. Who knows, they may give us a signal in the next 30 days to find out whether Maia is going or not.”
Ferran Martinez at Mundo Deportivo has reported that the signing of Maia by Barcelona is a little complicated. The coronavirus pandemic has affected the club financially and changed their priorities. Barcelona are also already committed to bringing in forwards Francisco Trincao from Braga and Pedri from Las Palmas.
Barcelona is also keen to sign Lautaro Martinez from Inter Milan this summer. Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio has told the Catalans they must pay his €111m release clause.
Brazilians at Barcelona
Should Barcelona go ahead and snap up Maia the youngster will follow in some very famous Brazilian footsteps. Players such as Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Romario, Neymar and Dani Alves have all gone down in history at the Camp Nou.
The club currently has Brazil internationals Philippe Coutinho and Arthur in the first-team squad, although both players have been linked with a departure this summer.
Coutinho’s agent, Kia Joorabchian, has said he would like to return to the Premier League, while Arthur has turned down a move to Juventus and remains committed to the Catalan giants.
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