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Barcelona to complete striker transfer in next 27 days after January purchase agreement
Barcelona will complete the signing of Gustavo Maia.
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Barcelona are set to complete the signing of Sao Paulo teenager Gustavo Maia, according to the player's agent. The Catalan giants are ready to trigger their £3million purchase option for the talented centre-forward.
Maia drew admiring glances from Barcelona, Liverpool and Atletico Madrid after his displays in the Sao Youth Football Cup in January.
But the Spanish heavyweights acted promptly and quickly negotiated a first-option clause for the teenager that cost them roughly £880,000.
However, Barcelona have until June 30 to pay the additional £3.1million to sign Maia permanently otherwise Sao Paulo can keep the money and negotiate with other clubs.
“We’ve only negotiated a first-option clause. If Barcelona opt not to exercise it until after June 30, then the money will remain with us,” Sao Paulo's sporting director Alexandre Passaro told ESPN.
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And Maia's agent, Danilo Silva, is confident Barcelona will exercise their option in the next 27 days.
"We are sure Barcelona will complete the purchase," he told Radio Transamerica.
"There was already a signal from the club and 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."
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Despite the confidence from agent Silva, Sao Paulo director Passaro says he's still not received any official confirmation from the Spanish champions.
"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," said Passaro.
"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."